HK Neo Reviews: Moneyball

Rating: 9/10 (4 December 2011)

Moneyball is just another one of those inspirational sporting flicks, but rather it is a movie about the running of a business in sport, the implications of questioning and doing something against the norm and at its very core a character drama about Billy Beane. In fact the film being adapted by Aaron Sorkin at times felt like The Social Network in the way it analyse the human condition through some smart dialogue and interchange. The casting of Brad Pitt as the complicated, passionate, yet lonely Billy Beane is pitch-perfect. Years ago, Pitt would need been able to pull this off, but he is now a matured and reformed actor and a far cry from his Troy's days. The chemistry between Pitt and the polar opposite in the nerdy Peter Brand (played by Superbad's Jonah Hill) is fascinating and involving to watch. The way the two persist on their vision against the odds is both inspiring and rewarding for the audience. Baseball like most other sports have become part of the money game, therefore it is always refreshing to see the underdogs match it with the big boys. Still, Moneyball isn't just about a small team going on a 20 game winning streak and matching it with the big boys, but about the difficulty to influence change and the hardship involve in going against tradition. Fortune flavours the brave as the saying goes and for Moneyball it very much rings true.
All in all, Moneyball is a realistic look at the baseball industry and how it operates and the dynamics that goes on behind the scenes. It may never be an outright successful film, but Moneyball works on all levels and go the extra mile to take the audience along for the ride and eventually winning the audiences' hearts along the way. Great acting, wonderful direction and terrific multi-layer film that ends up working wonders. A film to beat for 2011
Neo rates it 9/10