MONEYBALL [2003] starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill could in fact be the best film ever made. Of course, that is my opinion, but the facts that lay in the film are a tremendous effort of delivering a solid film from an idea that sparked a new generation of sports films. A slew of sports films began to follow shortly after Moneyball proved that a new format that depicted the "behind the scenes" world in producing a professional team from the managements point of view could work on the big screen, and boy, what a mark the efforts of the films production team made on future Hollywood films.
Some films die after all of the post promotional work and release have passed, but Moneyball has proven to have a long life of exceptional praise in the streaming world. The film has bounced effortlessly from Amazon Prime, to NetFlix, to HBO MAX, and back again. Pitt was supported by a tremendous cast who brought some interesting characters to life and the chemistry was natural and presented well on screen. Only one other film, FOREST GUMP [1994] with Tom Hanks, ranks high on my list of films that I can see again and again, and not get tired or bored with the films direction and message. I feel like I've seen the film for the first time each time I watch it. Do you want to know why?...because the film is flawless in the directing and editing. And even though I know that the writers and directors took some liberties to separate fact from fiction, the film still delivers it's message with impunity.
Like Forest Gump, I just don't think that no other actor could have masterfully played the role of Billy Beane, like Pitt. For some strange reason, there's a feel in the film that Pitt was on his game as an actor or the character was just perfect for him. In most part, Pitt pushed every minute of this film so far that he chose to step in as a producer and keep this film alive. Every sequence of this film was captured brilliantly with the best lighting, sound, and cinematography. Every part in this film brought out the best in each new actor signed on board, including Kerris Dorsey who played Beane's daughter "Casey."
The big message in this film is that Beane learned a valuable lesson, even though he was a wise manager to his assistant and had all of the answers, he earned the right to understand that, "One can win big even through losing." If you haven't seen Moneyball, or you aren't a big fan of sports, you should see it. You'll be entertained and you'll also wish that things would have worked out for the Oakland A's!
