Here’s a new movie in which the term “inside baseball” is not used as a metaphor, but as literal subject matter.
“Moneyball” takes a nerdy approach to a story that holds considerable fascination for anybody into baseball, and almost none for nonfans.
The film is based on a book by Michael Lewis, which chronicled the way Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane adopted the controversial “sabermetrics” approach to selecting talent for his team.
It’s a difficult system to describe in a nutshell, but sabermetrics, as developed by baseball writer Bill James and others, is a method of assessing talent based on hard statistics rather than amorphous qualities such as potential or raw ability or leadership.
Old-line baseball heads hate it, because it seems to remove a certain human element from the game; advocates insist it makes teams smarter.
“Moneyball” casts Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, who plunges into the sabermetrics world after the 2001 season, when it becomes clear that Oakland can’t compete with the budgets of big-market teams. He brings in a stats geek (Jonah Hill, in good form) and they proceed to offend the ancient scouts and pundits already employed by the team.
A lot of that is fun to watch, because the underdog scenario is operating on a couple of different levels and the movie has its share of sharp dialogue (courtesy of screenwriters Steven Zaillian and “Social Network” scribe Aaron Sorkin).
Plus, it has a cocky lead performance by Brad Pitt, who seems perfectly at ease in the skin of a pushy GM with a few anger-management issues.
Director Bennett Miller (“Capote”) stacks the movie as an Us vs. Them story, which gives it a dramatic flow but also means the film goes rather hard on, for instance, A’s manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the limp fellow (Spike Jonze) now married to Beane’s ex-wife (Robin Wright).
The movie’s easy psychological approach is an annoyance. Much as “The Social Network” decided that the invention of Facebook was all about Mark Zuckerberg’s failure to connect with women, so “Moneyball” reminds us that Billy Beane’s statistical quest is related to his own flop as a highly touted baseball prospect who never lived up to his potential.
It feels like a stretch. Beane also pals around with his daughter in scenes that appear to be included because baseball might be a little dry for some people.
Too bad, because the behind-the-scenes material is interesting. Watching Beane cajole his scouts or play phone tag with other general managers gives a lively picture of how a baseball team operates.
Reality made it hard for the filmmakers to offer up a conventional happy ending; there isn’t a home run in the bottom of the ninth waiting. All of which makes for a snappy but unsatisfying movie.
“Moneyball” (2½ stars)
Snappy dialogue and lively behind-the-scenes material about baseball aren’t quite enough to put this real-life story into the playoffs. Brad Pitt has a good cocky role as Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager who embraced the controversial, statistics-oriented method to acquire talent.
Rated: PG-13 for language.
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Guild 45, Meridian, Thornton Place Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
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