(MOVIE REVIEW) Pitt and Hill hit a homerun with Moneyball

There are some universal truths in the world. You have your basic stuff like water being wet, gravity keeping us from floating off into space and oxygen being a necessity for us to breathe. There is one rule that is not in high school biology books that is just as true as any of those facts, that “truth” is that Brad Pitt (and Tom Cruise for that matter) will never age. I don’t get it. There must be paintings of them in some attic slowly getting older while the body/person refuse to age, but it is true. Another “truth” is that Pitt, somehow over the length of his career, has excelled past the normal restrictions that come with being a Hollywood “pretty boy” and established himself as a true actor. A task that most cannot accomplish. He, along with Hill, manages to make this movie a great experience for the audience.

Plot: While dealing with the restraints of a very small budget and the fact that other teams with larger budgets are “gutting” the roster of the Oakland A’s for their talent, General Manager Billy Beane (Pitt) is at a crossroads. So he decides to get creative. He, after a chance meeting with Peter Brand (a player analyst for a rival team), begins to look at statistics of players more than the “old way” of putting together a team. Beane and Brand begin to build a team based off of a very simple premise...getting on base. They start to recruit players that have higher percentages of certain aspects of the game and not just good overall averages. This is considered taboo in the sacred world of baseball and is met with a lot of resistance. When Beane and Brand decide to go “all in” with the idea, they have to sit back and wonder if this idea will pay off or if they both just signed their own pink slips. Tradition can only be overturned by a revolution…and implementing this idea is nothing short of revolutionary.

Worth the admission? A BIG yes! This movie has a lot of heart, a great message, and is great for sports fans and non-fans alike. You see Jonah Hill take on a more serious character (which he does effortlessly) and you see Brad Pitt do what he does best. I really enjoyed this one and think that you will too.

As homework, I would like for you to go look up any movie that Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise has been in over the last 10 years and tell me if you can see where they are looking older. Really. Try it. It’s scary. Maybe they really did become vampires for Interview with the Vampire. Now THAT is method acting! Let me know what you find.

Note: The reason for the Cruise references are because I saw the new trailer for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and it looks GREAT. The trailer is set to Eminem/Pink’s Won’t Back Down and, for the song choice, is the best edited trailer I have seen since Watchmen in 2009.