Moneyball? Meh...Movie Review - Moneyball (2011)

I love baseball. I am a statistics freak. I've been known to keep a scorecard at baseball games. I have a formula that I use to determine weekly Major League Soccer Power Rankings and predict Major League Soccer matches.

I monitor RottenTomatoes.com to see the critics' consensus on movies to determine if I want to see the movie in a theater. Rotten? Forget about it. Ripe? I might consider it, as long as the subject matter interests me.

So out comes a movie, Moneyball. A story about Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), who has to figure out how to form a team with a limited payroll to compete against the big money clubs in Major League Baseball. He hires an economics major as his assistant (played by Jonah Hill) who has the ability to analyze statistics to measure the value of baseball players, thus uncovering "undervalued" players to form a team.

This method of scouting goes against the cultural norms of baseball scouting, providing a great backdrop for the movie.

This movie was ready-made for me.

Baseball? Check.

Statistics? Check.

Great actors? Brad Pitt? Jonah Hill? Philip Seymour Hoffman (playing Manager Art Howe)? Check.

A 94% ripe rating on RottenTomatoes.com? Check!


This movie can't fail!

I was completely underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong. The movie is OK. The premise is good.

However, I couldn't empathize with the Billy Beane (or Brad Pitt's portrayal of him) in the movie. Maybe it was his ego. The movie tries to show Billy Beane's vulnerabilities, but came up short.

Jonah Hill's character, Assistant General Manager Peter Brand, was somewhat funny. I just felt like I had seen it before, the stereotypical shy nerdy smart-type who is trying to make his way amongst the grizzled veterans in the sport. And how many times do I need to see Jonah Hill do the uncomfortable high five in a movie? Seen it before.

Moneyball misses the mark as it tries to be too many things. Is it a drama about the conflicts of work versus family, or an "us against them I'll be proven right" story, or a biopic on Billy Beane as the trailblazer in the application of sabermetrics to build a successful baseball team?

The movie seems to run too long. Heavy on dialog, as would be expected, but short on the interesting banter I would have expected in the interactions between the characters.

My expectations may have been too high. I can take responsibility for that. But for me Moneyball was, well, meh...

My Friend Tim

My friend Tim was married to my wife's sister, Amy.

My friend Tim loved his family.

My friend Tim would do anything for you, and help whenever you needed it. He would never ask for anything in return.

My friend Tim and his wife Amy were with us when my wife's water broke in a restaurant in Valparaiso, Indiana. We needed to take his brand new car to the hospital. Luckily he had towels in the trunk so we wouldn't ruin his new leather seats. Michael, our youngest was born the next day.

My friend Tim would miss a short putt, and mutter under his breath over and over "f**kin' idiot". You couldn't help but laugh. Think about the movie Boogie Nights when Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, Scotty J. tries to kiss Mark Wahlberg's character, Dirk Diggler in the driveway-and is rebuffed-you get the picture...

My friend Tim was very proud the day his son Andrew was born.

My friend Tim was so happy when his wife Amy announced she was pregnant with their second child, Emma.

My friend Tim gave me a Steelers cap when our family moved to Pittsburgh. My wife Tammy would tell you I don't have the best shaped head for caps, so I kept it in my office on a shelf. That summer Tim and his family came to visit, and when I saw the cap I thought "Tim would really like this!" When I gave it to him he thanked me, and then my wife Tammy piped up, "Geez Jim, you're an idiot, Tim gave that cap to you last Winter!" Typical of Tim, we had a great laugh over that re-gifting incident.

My friend Tim loved the Cincinnati Bengals.

My friend Tim worked his way from the age of 16 as a stock/warehouse man at Grainger to a Branch Manager. He had a great 27 year career there.

My friend Tim preferred "sprinkle cheese" on his hot dogs rather than liquid cheese.

My friend Tim and I vacationed together with our families several times in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We were fortunate that our wives would let us go golfing in the mornings, while they took care of the kids. After one of our rounds of golf we decided to stop by a nondescript hot dog stand at the side of the road for lunch. We each ordered a footlong chili cheese dog and a Diet Coke. (It was liquid cheese, by the way.) We decided that we would sit at the old picnic table outside of the stand, both of us facing the road. Not realizing the picnic table wasn't designed for two, 240 pound men to sit on one side of the table, we toppled over, but still had the foresight to grab our footlongs and drinks...and didn't spill a drop. But neither of us wanted to put our food on the ground, so we just layed there like turtles on our backs!

We buried my friend Tim this past Thursday after his untimely death on Sunday, May 15th, 2011.

I will miss my friend Tim.

Dedicated to the memory of Tim Quinlisk. With love to his wife Amy, his son Andrew and his daughter Emma.