Missed Opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (22 June 2012)

This is a movie with a great tale to tell. I have too believe the book is better. I think I know why too. This movie tries to tell the story as a great Managment Story, General Manager Story to be exact. The trouble is the heart is taken out of the story because of that approach.
I understand that Brad Pitt is trying to be made into a great actor. The trouble is Pitt is not a great actor. He can't carry a film because all his career he has been women's eye candy. Now that he is not as young as he once was, this movie proves it.
He is surrounded by a good supporting cast, but the folks around him are wasted as this movie tries to prove that a general manager and a Yale graduate with a computer can win in baseball. Making management into a hero is something that will warm the 1 percent, but leaves the 99% out cold.
When the film is using baseball clips, it is at it's strongest. For some reason, the script conversion here has dialog which does not allow the cast to really dig in. I understand Pitt is retiring from acting in 2 years. This movie proves he has never really acted. Granted, you could blame the script he is reading from but Pitt seems to be wooden in every film he has ever done.
Once the movie gets past 2 hours, it gets too long. It is based on a true story but I would think the real people had better emotions and words than the cast here has or does. Hoffman is nearly wasted in his role as Manager Art Howe, a role which he is perfect for but gets very little script to work with.
This movie about the Oakland A's could have been so much better. It fails to point out the human element. It makes me long for Jim Bouton's 1960's novel "Ball Four" which is a great picture of Baseball before free agency and money. Too bad that kind of baseball book can not be written now so we can compare what Jim Catfish Hunter's first free agent victory has really done too change the game.
This movie is half-baked. I hope the book is much better.