New Films #2

Moneyball (2011) D: Bennett Miller 3.5/5

Baseball is a sport that has its origins in more primitive stick ball games played during the late middle ages around Britain, Ireland, and France. In the 1850s the modern game of baseball emerged as an American past-time that would later go on to unite fans from different cities across the nation. Moneyball captures the essence of American baseball- from the passion of the fans- to the huge amount of money that gets poured into the sport. What makes baseball uniquely American to me is its emphasis on the abilities of an individual to overcome the pressure placed on him by another individual. Director Bennett Miller focuses on the true story of a team manager's unlikely success in organizing a good baseball team despite having a low budget for recruiting players. Throughout the course of the film huge numbers are thrown out for player's salaries and the manager's salaries that begs the question- why do these athletes and corporate type managers deserve so much money? Because people love competition and will pay lots of money to be entertained and experience something greater than themselves. This is in fact the same for many forms of entertainment, including watching films in theaters- we want to experience something bigger than ourselves.

The truth is baseball allows people to escape into a world of champions; a world of larger than life athletes who compete for the sake of competition, because winning means everything. While watching this film you can get a sense for the spirit of the game and at the same time it sheds light on the larger underlying spectacle of any sport or entertainment. Having said all of that I particularly enjoyed and related to this film because I do from time to time get lost in the plays and pitches of a baseball game. On a surface level this movie does a great job at considering the difference between getting into a sport for the sake of money and fame versus playing for some alternative reason- maybe just for a love of the physical exertion and sense of camaraderie. Brad Pitt's character is the classic movie archetype of the underdog, but honestly who doesn't love a story where the little man accomplishes something no one expected him to accomplish. In that way Moneyball truly does represent the American dream of coming into a situation and working hard to struggle for something better. Overall I think this film is well acted and well put together so I would recommend it as a decent movie even for those who do not care for baseball, but if you like baseball as i do then this is a great portal for appreciating the sport.