Moneyball

*****
Dir. Bennett Miller

Like many other genres, sports movies have had some very compelling dramas and some cheesy, artificial films. Moneyball is among the best, demonstrating the impact of a quality script and the disregarding of conventional elements to drive a story.

Director Bennett Miller tells the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager for the Oakland Athletics. After suffering a prolonged series of miserable failures, Beane struggles with the mistakes of his past, and worries deeply about the futures of both himself and his team. Yet his existentialist mentalities change when he meets an Economics major from Yale named Pete Brand (Jonah Hill). This corky genius, who has no experience with any kind of athletics, assures Beane that he can select the perfect team using a series of mathmatical formulas. Much to the dismay of the teams' manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), this pair of unlikely heroes ends up taking a bunch of no-names to the longest winning streak in American League history.

The most defining aspect of this film is the script. Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network) and Steven Zaillian (American Gangster, Gangs of New York) do a fantastic job of adapting Michael Lewis' novel. The characterization is flawless, and the plot is very well-composed as it contains a solid culmination of internal and external conflicts. The dialogue is naturally dictated and artistically formulated so as to examine the depths of Beane's character.

As far as the acting goes, this is some of Pitt's best work; right up there with Fight Club. Even Jonah Hill was a surprisingly good pick, as this was probably his first film not centered around sexual humor and allowed audiences to actually observe his ability as an actor. Then there's Hoffman as Beane's  old-school, cranky boss; with his performance utilizing a sort of Jack Nicholson persona to create a nice deal of tension between these characters. Robin Wright also has a nice supporting role as Beane's ex-wife, portraying the character very effectively.

Miller directs with a realist vision which presents a more independent style of filmmaking. Between opening with a Mickey Mantle quote, and using actual footage from the 2001-2002 season, this is how sports movies should be made. Utilizing the terrific cinematography by Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight, Inception), there's an almost noir feel which reflects the complexities of the story. Not only is there the overarching conflict between Beane and the old-school American League, there's also the internal conflicts within his character.

Movies like this tend to take a true story, and ruin it with a string of Hollywood elements so as to bring in as many dollars as possible into box offices. That is not the case with Miller's work here. A beautifully composed film with a deep level of intrigue, this is definitely one to see.