Moneyball
“How can you not be romantic about baseball?” Billy Beane
When I first heard about Moneyball, I really thought it is gonna be another cheesy American movie about baseball, with few HRs, lucky catches, a love affair, and Brad Pitt. Nothing too funny like Major League or too serious (and creepy) like The Field of Dreams. And definitely nothing with Madonna (A League of Their Own).
In reality, what you get is a slightly cocky GM, geeky Yale graduate, and a lot of snuff. A small paper cup would be a perfect symbol of this movie on one of those minimalistic movie posters for hipsters. And on top of that there is baseball. A lot of baseball. What more, you kind of have to know what is going on to understand the movie, because the mechanism and inner workings of a baseball team and the game in general are basically the main thing in the movie. I really wonder how the reception differed between the states and the rest of the world, because from my own experience the knowledge about baseball in Europe is, well, quite poor.
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Moneyball trailer
The movie is based on a real story and on a book named Moneyball. The main character, Billy Beane, is a former MLB star, that failed to fulfill the expectations of the scouts and after few years retreated to the front office. Later he became the GM of Oakland A’s, one of the poorest teams in the big league, and with the help of a Yale graduate he assembled a team based on players’ statistics, as opposed to the “traditional” approach based on the judgement of the experienced scouts. This team of underestimated players then set the MLB’s record for the longest winning streak of 20 games.
For me the movie is definitely one of the best baseball movies I have ever seen and maybe even one of the best movies in general. I know that it is partially caused by the fact that baseball used to be a big part of my life for nearly 8 years, but the movie itself is well made as well. The context is realistic, the game footage is believable and the ratio between action and talking is quite alright. The in-game footage also made me reminiscent about some moments of my “career”, such as my “K streak” in one of the seasons or, on the other hand, the .400 BA and the highest RBI in another. not talking about the 3B into opposite with loaded bases in the semifinal of the Czech championship. Oh yeah!
One of the final scenes when Billy comes to Fenway is then just the icing on the cake. Damn, I really wish I could go see a Red Sox vs. Yankees game there…__Let’s go, Red Sox!__
Anyway, if you like baseball, I can only recommend watching this movie – I can guarantee you that you won’t regret spending those two hours on it. Just make sure your girlfriend/boyfriend is on the same page.