Moneyball (2011)

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.

Director:

Bennett Miller

Writers:

Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay),

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 42 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Billy Beane
Jonah Hill	...	Peter Brand
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Art Howe
Robin Wright	...	Sharon
Chris Pratt	...	Scott Hatteberg
Stephen Bishop	...	David Justice
Reed Diamond	...	Mark Shapiro
Brent Jennings	...	Ron Washington
Ken Medlock	...	Grady Fuson
Tammy Blanchard	...	Elizabeth Hatteberg
Jack McGee	...	John Poloni
Vyto Ruginis	...	Pittaro
Nick Searcy	...	Matt Keough
Glenn Morshower	...	Ron Hopkins
Casey Bond	...	Chad Bradford

Storyline

Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | manager | one word title | slow motion | business | 

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Taglines:

What are you really worth?

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

El juego de la fortuna

Filming Locations:

Blair Field, Recreation Park - 4700 E. 10th Street, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$19,501,302 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Gross:

$75,605,492 (USA) (27 January 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Michael De Luca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bill James, noted as the statistical influence for the main characters' analysis, is regarded by many to be the father of sabermetrics. This study of advanced baseball statistics is named after the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), an organization to which James and other sabermetrics pioneers belong. The film puts a heavy emphasis upon on-base percentage (OBP), though concepts like on-base-plus-slugging-percentage (OPS), now a widely-accepted measure of a player's hitting ability, are not mentioned. Concepts like runs created (RBIs plus runs scored), ERA+ and others widely used by statisticians are also not mentioned, perhaps owing to their increased acceptance in the years since the events portrayed in the film.

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Goofs

In 2001, when Scott Hatteberg is first shown on screen, his feet are up on a coffee table, clearly showing the Nike+ logo on the sole of his shoe. Nike+ was introduced in 2006.

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Quotes

Billy Beane: I want Dye in right, Justice DHing, Peña on the bench, Hatteberg at first, and anyone but Mags first out of the pen.
Art Howe: You want Peña on the bench?
Billy Beane: That's right. So you can play Hatty.
Art Howe: Peña is not only the best first baseman on the roster, he's the only first baseman on the roster.
Billy Beane: Listen to me, Hatty gets on base more than Peña. In fact, twenty percent more.
Art Howe: And his fielding?
Billy Beane: His fielding does not matter.
Art Howe: I've heard enough of this.
Billy Beane: Have you?
Art Howe: And I, uh... I disagree with you, plain and simple. And...

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.103 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)"
Written by George Clinton (as George Clinton, Jr.), Bootsy Collins (as William Earl Collins), and Jerome Brailey
Performed by Parliament
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Intriguing, investing, with a great screenplay and a fantastic performance at its core

Sports films... Not a huge fan of them, and don't see them much because of the predictability of them. However, one cannot deny the impact that some have, like for example in recent years The Fighter and Aronofsky's The Wrestler. Moneyball can now join them and is among the best films of the year.

The film is always intriguing, and Aaron Sorkin (whose screenplay for The Social Network was last year's best) is to be congratulated for this. It's his wonderful script that gives the film the energy. What also helps is the lack of predictability. Sure, one can't seem to hope for an 'experimental' sports film, since this is based on a true story. However, Sorkin, as well as the director, always keeps things refreshing and interesting without becoming repetitive and stale. The dialogue is brilliant of course, and the lack of 'field' action makes it even more involving so when the important ball scene comes along it makes an impact. The other big driving factor is Brad Pitt, who has had an incredible year. His performance in The Tree of Life is already among his finest work, and now this joins it as well. He portrays all of the character traits with such versatility and charisma. A great and satisfying protagonist.

Overall, I was incredibly pleased with this. It is to this day the best adapted screenplay of the year, and not surprisingly Pitt is my win in both categories for both of his films.