Moneyball Review

Bennett Miller's latest film Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, tells the unique story of current Oakland Athletic's general manager and his attempts to not only rehaul the way his team does business, but how the entire baseball league does business. The film also happens to be Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin's (with Steven Zallian) follow up script to "The Social Network" and in many ways imitates its predecessor. There is the lonely individual attempting to revolutionize a system and by extension bring himself to the forefront. There is the betrayal and the use of the human being as merely part of a business transaction. However, Moneyball never quite hits its homerun (pun completely intentional).

Brad Pitt leads a solid cast that includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Athletics' Skipper Art Howe and Jonah Hill as Peter Brand, Billy Bean's assistant. Hoffman is strong despite the limited screen time and Hill is tremendous as the film's strongest comic relief. However, it is clear that is was always intended as a showpiece for Brad Pitt and for the most part, this is really his film. He gives a subtle performance with many nuanced moments that really add a much needed depth to this character.

The film however, never really treads past the tried and true Hollywood formula of the Alpha male who overcomes the world and maintains his moral integrity. And this presents both its strong suit and it's glaring weakness. It is by no means a bad film. In fact it is one of the best examples of how to put the Hollywood formula to good use and create an engaging and entertaining product. However, the film never really develops into the complex character study that it aims to be and one expects. And for this reason, the film is not particularly fulfilling. I enjoyed the film, but felt that I was cheated on some level by the film.