Moneyball (2011)

"It's hard not to get romantic about baseball"

I give this movie a 4.8 out of 5 stars and a 90% on RT although if I could I would give it a 98%

I should start by saying that not only is one the best sports movies I have ever seen this was one of the best movies I have seen. I don’t throw those words around lightly, I loved this film! I guess I should start by saying that I am a huge fan of the game of baseball. I am an even bigger fan of movies based on what can lovingly be referred to as "our fathers game" This movie not only will manage to please the die-hard baseball fans out there but just about anybody who watches this compelling and true story. They have managed to do something very difficult and that is make a movie about baseball statistics interesting. Billy Beane is a fascinating individual and going into this film I did not know much about him other than what I knew from the press and that was he was shaking things up a bit in the baseball world and this movie is his story. He managed to do something in baseball that nobody has ever done and I’ll tell you folks it’s fascinating to watch. I knew I was excited to see this and I had high expectations and when this happens I am usually very leery. This film however remarkably managed to surpass them. This movie is early in the Oscar race but it won’t be forgotten come February. I don’t know if it will get a best picture or best director nom, even though it is easily worthy of it, however I do feel that Brad Pitt will get a nomination for sure. Jonah Hill was excellent playing a role like you have never seen him play before. He is not focusing on the funny and really for the first time I have got a chance to see him as a serious actor and I liked what I saw. He was very good but in this film Brad Pitt steals the show. If that weren’t enough, the old Oscar veteran Philip Seymour Hoffman is there for support as well. He is just as good as always in what seems like flawlessly finding his character and fleshing it out on screen. The acting was great but so was the overall structure of the movie. I won’t go into detail but I will say the way this movie is edited and put together really looks great and tells a great story. I was also really impressed with the director’s choice in the use of sound or lack thereof. Nothing can set a lonely tone or can allow the user to feel isolation than dead silence and while the entire movie is obviously not silent, there are scenes where that silence is used and boy it is certainly very effective. Everyone involved with this film simply hit a home run here. The movie fires on every level and keeps the audience engaged from start to finish. There is a reason this was my favorite movie of the year so far and in my opinion it’s also the best so far, weather that remains top be seen with all of the Oscar bait coming out we shall see, but this is the first truly impressive film I have seen on every aspect this year. Well I could probably include The Help with that sentence as well but Moneyball is a sure fire hit for baseball fans and a great movie for those who don’t even like the game. I can’t recommend this movie enough and I highly, highly recommend this film to everyone! You don’t have to take my word for it though it is easily certified fresh on RT and sitting at a 94% on the tomatometer, the numbers don’t lie, you know what to do just go see it and enjoy.