See? Statistics Can Be Fun

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2012)

Aaron Sorkin appears to be the go-to guy for making movies that should be dull as dirt instead wildly entertaining.
Last year, he made me hang on every word of the jibber jabber Internet geek speak of "The Social Network." This year, he takes on -- are you ready? -- predictive analytics as applied to baseball and has contributed to one of the best movies of the year.
Of course, Sorkin did not do it alone. Co-written by Stephen Zaillian, directed by Bennett Miller (of "Capote" fame) and starring a never-better Brad Pitt, "Moneyball" is a poster child for a the kind of spare, dramatically streamlined and engrossing film that comes along all too infrequently. Telling the story of Billy Beane, general manager of the beleaguered Oakland A's baseball team, who revolutionized the way baseball players are drafted when a data whiz kid (played by Jonah Hill) makes him understand the role statistics can play in picking the best players, "Moneyball" is probably more entertaining to people who like baseball, but a love of the sport isn't a requirement in warming to the film. It's just good, plain and simple, and anyone who likes a well-told story should find much to like here.
The cast also includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, as the team's pig-headed coach, and Robin Wright (who popped up all over the place this year) as Pitt's ex-wife.
Grade: A