MONEYBALL

This movie is the story of Billy Beane, a 'failed' major league baseball player and General Manager of the Oakland A's. After once again losing players to teams with much more money, he hires a computer whiz (played by Jonah Hill, who i think has lost a lot of weight since this picture was filmed.) who groups together players for a winning team based on numbers and averages and the times the player gets on base.

This was beyond radical at the time and the scouts (all grizzled veterans of 'how the game is played') grumble and rebel. Brad Pitt plays Billy and i think this was his best role. He has weathered a bit (cuz of all those children and being the husband of angelina?) and has lost that pretty boy look.

The story was just mesmerizing and fast paced and it was very very interesting to see how a team is constructed and the interaction of the players and managers and how players are traded. One thing that was really clear is that the team is NOT a family; its just a random grouping of individuals; being placed at the whim of the management.

The only females in the film were Billy's ex (played by Robin Wright - formerly Sean Penn's wife; very short on film time) and Billy's daughter.

We gave the movie a 9; i would have given it a 10 but the ending dragged on; showing in too slow paced sequences the dilemma Billy was faced with re: his position in baseball. This was a true story. I got very emotionally involved at the baseball playoff games; exciting.