Moneyball

My cousin Jeremy and I made our way to a movie theater last just off 14th St. in Manhattan, and ducked into the theater to catch this new film last week. It was a thrilling experience, partly because we had just had a wonderful day of sightseeing in New York, and partly because we saw a film that was both highly engaging and entertaining.

One need not be a baseball fan to enjoy this film, but as a lifelong fan of the game, I was hooked by the premise of it. 9 years ago, journalist Michael Lewis wrote a book called Moneyball in which he recorded how the Oakland Athletics of the American League were able to continue to put together winning teams despite a very low payroll. To sum up, the idea was that the general manager of the Athletics (Billy Beane, the main character both of the book and the film) was able to find "undervalued players" by reassessing the priorities of baseball statistics. In this world, getting on base is the most important thing a batter can do...how that happens is irrelevant. In the process he undermines the establishment and is able to succeed despite no one believing in him except a young Ivy League educated assistant. Take the baseball away, and what is left? A classic Hollywood underdog story of one crazy person taking on the status quo and, in his own way, winning.

Being a lover of baseball, there are many things that help me love the movie more. As I watched Billy Beane (played wonderfully by Brad Pitt) argue on the phone with Johnny Damon's agent "Scott", I knew who "Scott" was. Knowing who that was added texture to my experience, but would not detract from the experience of someone who didn't. Also, the film brilliantly recounts Beane's own history as a hot young prospect who simply doesn't pan out in the major leagues. As Billy Beane has another shot to compete in baseball in a a different way, he is forced to make decisions about what is important to him, and in a way, possibly right some of the wrongs from earlier in his life. The reason this film is so good is that it is able to tell Beane's own story, and we see him develop. That is the mark of good storytelling, whatever the setting and content of the story. The fact that one can walk away from this film happy for the decisions the Beane's character made speaks volumes on how engaging the story is, and how well it is told.

In the midst of the great storytelling, there are some great laughs, some good baseball, and wonderfully powerful performances from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Johah Hill (as the Ivy League educated numbers cruncher mentioned above). Hoffman plays the Athletics' manager Art Howe, an old school baseball man who thinks that Beane's ideas are crazy, and fights him every step of the way on controlling the team. There is a moment of brilliance that I recall in the movie. At one point, Beane is having trouble with a certain lineup decision that Howe (Hoffman's character) has made. This continues to be a point of contention between the two of them. Eventually, Beane plays his trump card and trades away the player who was creating the issue without Howe's knowledge. The reaction Hoffman gives when he finds out that one of his favorite players has been traded is truly priceless.

As a father, I also related closely Beane's relationship with his daughter. There are some sweet moments here which show a very human side to this driven and competitive man. And that, in many ways, best demonstrates how good this movie is. To be able to cover the drama of a baseball season, the ups and down of one man's baseball career, and see him grow in stature as a father, and have that all be in one movie is something unique. I hope the sports content does not scare people away from a wonderfully dramatic and funny human story.