Film Review: MONEYBALL (2011)

Director: Bennett Miller
Writers: Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Stan Chervin (story), Michael Lewis (book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game”)
Running time: 128 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Biography/Drama/Sport
UK Release date: 25^th November 2011

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 9^th September 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I was intrigued to see this film when it came out not because I’m a fan of baseball, it’s not big here in the UK, but because I heard Aaron Sorkin was one of the screenwriters. I have been a bit of a fan of his work ever since ‘The West Wing’ and I always make a point of seeing it whenever I can. Sadly this one didn’t make it to my local cinema and so I waited for it to make it to the small screen. I was pleasantly surprised; not the long emotional speeches you would normally associate with Sorkin, slightly more muted, but his mark is unmistakably there. I will tell you more after this very brief summary.

This film plots the rise of a struggling baseball team, the Oakland A’s, and how they achieved this remarkable goal. We concentrate on the general manager, Billy Beane, a former player who never quite made it but found a niche for himself in management. Having lost his star players at the end of the previous season he has to rebuild the team. He comes across a Yale Economics graduate, Peter Brand, who has some interesting theories. Taking Brand’s advice, Beane begins to recruit new players much to the dismay of the scouting and coaching staff. The season of 2002 doesn’t start well; they have many of the right players, according to Brand, but the coach, Art Howe, won’t play them to their strengths. He can’t see what the statistics are telling Brand and so does what he feels is best. Eventually Beane has had enough and makes some changes to the playing staff that forces Howe to play the team as intended. The change in fortunes is remarkable and they go on a record-breaking run of wins… But will they win the ultimate prize? Well, if you’re a fan of baseball you’ll already know the answer to that, but I’ll leave it there for those that don’t follow the sport.

Very well made with some nice visuals, I particularly liked the use of actual sports coverage and news reports, it gave the story a sense of realism. All the performances were very good; Brad Pitt, who also produced, did a great job as Billy Beane. Jonah Hill was also excellent as Peter Brand; he added some nice comic touches too. The coach, Art Howe was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who I felt was a little underused. I will give honourable mentions to; Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg and Stephen Bishop as David Justice.

Quite a slow pace to this one gives the audience time to get to know the major players and figure out just what Beane and Brand are doing. To me, the fact they didn’t include the coach in their plans was a major flaw; he’s the first one you have to convince! Putting that aside, I did find myself rooting for the team as the season came to its conclusion and that’s testament to the writers and the filmmakers. If you can get a foreigner who knows very little about the sport to become emotionally involved then you’re doing a good job in my book. Over all though, despite its flaws I did enjoy this one and I’m happy to give it my seal of approval.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.1/10

IMDb Score: 7.7/10 (based on 117,253 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/

MetaScore: 87/100: (Based on 42 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 95/100 (based on 221 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 86/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 71,889 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moneyball/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Peter Brand: There is an epidemic failure within the game to understand what is really happening. And this leads people who run Major League Baseball teams to misjudge their players and mismanage their teams. I apologize.
Billy Beane: Go on.
Peter Brand: Okay. People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn't be to buy players; your goal should be to buy wins. And in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs. You're trying to replace Johnny Damon. The Boston Red Sox see Johnny Damon and they see a star who's worth seven and half million dollars a year. When I see Johnny Damon, what I see is... is... an imperfect understanding of where runs come from. The guy's got a great glove. He's a decent leadoff hitter. He can steal bases. But is he worth the seven and half million dollars a year that the Boston Red Sox are paying him? No. No. Baseball thinking is medieval. They are asking all the wrong questions. And if I say it to anybody, I'm-I'm ostracized. I'm-I'm-I'm a leper. So that's why I'm-I'm cagey about this with you. That's why I... I respect you, Mr. Beane, and if you want full disclosure, I think it's a good thing that you got Damon off your payroll. I think it opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities.

Billy Beane: Would you rather get one shot in the head or five in the chest and bleed to death?
Peter Brand: Are those my only two options?

Scott Hatteberg: [Responding to being asked to play first base for the Oakland A's] I've only ever played catcher.
Billy Beane: It's not that hard, Scott. Tell him, Wash.
Ron Washington: It's incredibly hard.

Peter Brand: Billy, this is Chad Bradford. He's a relief pitcher. He is one of the most undervalued players in baseball. His defect is that he throws funny. Nobody in the big leagues cares about him because he looks funny. This guy could be not just the best pitcher in our bullpen, but one of the most effective relief pitchers in all of baseball. This guy should cost $3 million a year. We can get him for $237,000.

Billy Beane: It's hard not to be romantic about baseball. This kind of thing, it's fun for the fans. It sells tickets and hot dogs. Doesn't mean anything.
Peter Brand: Billy, we just won twenty games in a row.
Billy Beane: And what's the point?
Peter Brand: We just got the record.
Billy Beane: Man, I've been doing this for... listen, man. I've been in this game a long time. I'm not in it for a record, I'll tell you that. I'm not in it for a ring. That's when people get hurt. If we don't win the last game of the Series, they'll dismiss us.
Peter Brand: Billy...
Billy Beane: I know these guys. I know the way they think, and they will erase us. And everything we've done here, none of it'll matter. Any other team wins the World Series, good for them. They're drinking champagne, they get a ring. But if we win, on our budget, with this team... we'll have changed the game. And that's what I want. I want it to mean something.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/moneyball/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)

Director: David Fincher
Screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin
Running time: 120 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Biography/Drama
UK Release date: 15^th October 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 11^th September 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember when this came out there was an awful lot of debate, praise and general talking about it. Unfortunately it never made it to my local cinema (surprisingly), but it finally made it to a pay TV channel this week. I was quite keen to see it given the amount of attention it got, and also because it was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, both of which I admire greatly. Here’s a little about the plot before I give you my thoughts.

After a disagreement with a girl, Erica Albright, computer genius Mark Zuckerberg goes online and writes a program called “Facemash”. It was available only to students at Harvard University, where he was studying. It caused quite a stir when the University servers crashed. He had the help of his friend, Eduardo Saverin, who would eventually be credited as a co-founder of Facebook. Moving on from this, Mark is approached by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and their associate Divya Narendra, to write a web site for them that had elements common with what Facebook would become. Instead of working on their site, Mark works on his own idea, with backing from Eduardo. Eventually ‘The Facebook’ goes live at Harvard University and is an instant hit. They expand to other Universities in the United States and eventually across the world. Mark is contacted by Sean Parker, the inventor of Napster, and he eventually moves out to California to use his expertise. All this time, Eduardo is being squeezed out of the business. It all comes to a head when Mark is sued by Eduardo, the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narendra. It is this action that forms the central part of the movie and it is from here the various parts of the story are told in flashback. I’ve probably said too much, but the film is about so much more so I’ll stop before the Spoiler Police (Universities branch) escort me off campus.

As you’d expect from Aaron Sorkin, an excellent script with some really great dialogue! The film is beautifully made, expertly paced and I found it very easy to get into. Great performances all round, particularly from Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, a real departure for him and he pulled it off brilliantly. I must also give praise to Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, for me, he put in the best performance, maybe because his character was more likeable, but still a great performance. Honourable mentions go to; Armie Hammer as Cameron Winklevoss / Tyler Winklevoss and Max Minghella as Divya Narendra.

I really enjoyed this film, the subject matter is one that’s close to many people’s hearts and so I guess it was bound to be a hit. I did find the picture very dark though; so much so that curtains had to be drawn (it was a daytime viewing). I think it’s one of those films that will eventually become a classic, but it is one you have to watch… It’s very easy to get lost in the twists and turns of a piece of dialogue written by Aaron Sorkin (and I mean that in a nice way). Over all, beautifully made, a great script, an enthralling story and some great performances… Recommended.

My Score: 8.5/10.

IMDb Score: 8.0/10 (based on 149,604 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96/100 (based on 272 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-social-network/

 

Since it’s all about Social Networking… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:

Erica Albright: You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.

Sean Parker: Drop the “The.” Just “Facebook.” It’s cleaner.

Mark Zuckerberg: I went to my friend for the money because that's who I wanted to be partners with. Eduardo was the president of the Harvard Investors Association, and he was also my best friend.
Gage: Your best friend is suing you for six hundred million dollars.
Mark Zuckerberg: [Sarcastically] I didn't know that, tell me more.

Marylin Delpy: [Last Lines] You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thesocialnetwork/
Trailer: