Film Review: ‘Moneyball’ and Q&A with star Jonah Hill!

By: GabrielleAdelle

Moneyball follows the story of Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager, and his attempt to put a great baseball team together, relying solely on computer generated analysis. Yes, this is a movie about baseball, and I’m not a huge baseball fan. Yeah, going to baseball games is fun, but following the sport on television is a big bore for me. I watched a couple baseball movies in the past, and didn’t like them all that much. When Moneyball came around, I was torn. One of my favorite screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin, wrote the script, and it had a great cast that includes Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I thought maybe this will be THE exception for me… And it was.

Pitt plays Beane, a frustrated GM who just lost three of his best players to other teams. He’s crunched for time to replace them with the best players he can get. Unfortunately, the Oakland A’s has one of the lowest budgets in the entire league, and good players cost a lot of money. After meeting with the Cleveland Reds, he meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a recent Yale grad with a major in economics. Peter has found a way to draft a winning baseball team using statistics and computer-generated analysis. Beane decides to hire Peter and use this method to draft players to his team. Immediately, Beane’s colleagues address this method with disdain, and the world of baseball generally looks down on such methods. But Beane and Peter are determined to prove everyone wrong.

What makes Moneyball different than previous baseball movies is that it takes a new perspective on the sport. It looks at it like a business, which frankly it has become as of late. That’s what really got me interested in the story. I finally understood all the work it takes to put a baseball team out into the field every summer night for you to watch. The story could have been easily boring, but Sorkin knows how to formulate a script with the right amount of information and drama. As expected, the movie is dialogue heavy; there’s a ton of information about baseball, statistics, etc. However, the information doesn’t become overwhelming, and it’s not over-explained. The drama and emotion is evident throughout the movie, but it doesn’t really hit you until the big game. The suspense was killing me! I became so invested in this team, I was on the edge of my seat, unsure if I was about to feel the stinging disappointment of a loss or joyous excitement of a victory. When that happens, you know they did something right.

As for the acting, Beane’s interactions with Peter and the team’s captain (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) are entertaining. There’s a great chemistry between Pitt and Hill. At first thought, you can’t see it working, but it does. Their scenes together are the funniest of the movie. But the true shining star of the movie is Brad Pitt. I’ve never seemed him huff and puff so much in a movie. He nailed playing an overworked, frustrated GM of a low budget team. He managed to alternate between his character’s changing feelings seamlessly. It really is one of the best performances of his career.

Much Oscar talk has been surrounding Moneyball, and I would agree that it is deserved. While I don’t see the film winning any major awards, I definitely think it can snag a few nominations, particularly for Brad Pitt’s acting and Aaron Sorkin’s script.  Maybe even for film editing too; I really liked the game montages. Whatever the case, Moneyball knocks it out of the park. It’s not just a must-see for baseball fans, but a must-see for everyone. Go see it.

Moneyball releases into theaters Friday, September 23^rd in the U.S.

—

Q&A with star Jonah Hill

I was lucky to be part of a Q&A with Jonah Hill. Jonah discussed working on this film and difference between drama and comedy. You can watch what he had to say in the videos below. To see more pictures from the Q&A, go to our Facebook page!

Jonah Hill discusses why he was the right actor for his Moneyball character and working with Brad Pitt & Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Jonah talks about his upcoming projects, the animated FOX series “Allen Gregory” and his next movie with Channing Tatum “21 Jump Street.”

Thank you watching the videos! Hope you enjoyed them and Moneyball!