‘Moneyball’ Review: The Little A’s That Could

In 2002, Billy Beane, Paul DePodesta and the Oakland A’s made baseball history after they took a small-market team at the bottom of the league payroll to the American League Division Series.

Nearly a decade later, director Bennett Miller’s ultimate achievement in “Moneyball” isn’t nearly on the same scale, but it is still an enjoyable film based on Michael Lewis’ amazing book.

Behind powerful cinematography and a story that is much more about the human spirit and perseverance than sabermetrics and the revolutionary ideas of Bill James, “Moneyball” has what every baseball movie should: heart.

Accomplished mainly by Brad Pitt’s portrayal of Billy Beane, a former first round pick, whose career never materialized the way scouts imagined, “Moneyball” is essentially the story of “The Little Engine that Could.” After he loses three of his best players to large market teams, Beane knows it’s time to change the way his team does business. Confidently and charismatically, Pitt is a more than capable Beane. Going from a fiery and eccentric General Manager to a concerned father, Pitt is able to bring the character Lewis wrote about in “Moneyball” to life.

The scenes between Pitt and his on-screen daughter, Kerris Dorsey, are especially down to earth and at times, touching. Worried about her father’s career, she’s a calming influence and a smile-inducer. The same thing can be said for Jonah Hill’s performance of Peter Brand, AKA Paul DePodesta. A far cry from Hill’s performances in the teen comedies he’s famous for, Hill pulls off the nerd role surprisingly well.

His explanations of  sabermetics are incredibly simple and infectious. So much so that if baseball isn’t your cup of tea, you’ll quickly wonder why no one implemented these methods sooner. If baseball is a part of your daily bread, you’ll see a huge struggle between the old guard and the new- one that would reshape the sport forever.

This battle between Pitt, Hill and the entire baseball world, including his own scouts and manager, Art Howe [played unceremoniously by Philip Seymour Hoffman] is what drives the film. Beane’s superstitious personality [not watching games] and his relationship with his daughter are what create the real emotional connection. The banter and fun between the two not only gets the film on base, but also get it into scoring position before it ultimately scores.

The intimate shots of Pitt, doing everything from driving his car and working out, and those of Brand, working tirelessly at the computer, cement that passion these characters have for their craft. The passion is easy to see and get behind.

Things aren’t perfect however, as there could have been more attention paid to the players on the team and the draft during the 2001 off-season [The first that saw the team implement sabermetrics into the draft process]. Those who read the book will miss some of the details that made it so special, such as more focus on Beane as a player and the scouting system that failed him during his career on and off the field.

But by the last game of their season, things will get romantic and sentimental. You’ll be convinced that Beane, Brand and their misfit ballplayers are something special.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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