3. Moneyball (2011)

When I watch movies based on true events, I could give two shits of how the actual story played out. I always judge it as a movie. When I first reviewed Moneyball, it was one of the rare times I let my personal opinions on the subject matter get in the way of evaluating the film. My personal issues with Moneyball stem from the fact that I side with the villains of the movie. You can’t put a team together with a computer. The human element needs to be evaluated, and the fact that this film depicts the people who feel that way as villains bothered me. As a Boston Red Sox fan, I was also personally offended at the little tag they put in at the end that the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series because of Moneyball. Right, because David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Keith Foulke, and Johnny Damon were such great examples of the “money ball” system. Cut me a break.

When I watched the film a second time though, I let go of all that baggage, and realized Moneyball for the great movie that it is. It’s a fantastic script, and for me it’s Brad Pitt’s best performance. I like the idea of Billy Beane having this personal grudge against scouts because of what happened to him in the major leagues. I also recognized Jonah Hill’s great performance the second time around. While I don’t agree with the Moneyball philosophy, as a movie this is top notch filmmaking that is highly entertaining.

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