Moneyball

Brad Pitt plays the Billy Beane role and Jonah Hill plays Paul DePodesta in this retelling of the behind the scenes events of the Oakland Athletics in the 2001-2002 season. The A's had just lost in game 5 of the ALDS to the Yankee's and their payroll comparison (35 million to 115 million) made it obvious that they were supposed to lose. When A's GM Beane asked the owner for a few more dollars to help retain or replace Giambi and Damon, the answer was an emphatic NO. Enter DePodesta (aka Peter Brand in the film), a Yale educated economics geek and a true believer in Bill James statistical analysis. Beane and Brand work with James statistics to find undervalued players in the league and put together a team on the cheap that can compete with the rich boys... hence the name Moneyball. This is an excellent film that, while being about baseball, is really about politics, economics, competition and desire. Much like Invictus is about rugby, we learn lots about the sport and about the people in the system. A great film.
5 stars (out of 5)