Movie Review: Moneyball
This is a timely one for me as I happen to be doing a lot of work in artificial intelligence and sports analytics. Rewatched this recently and what jumped out was how nicely understated everything is in this film. It tells the story of Billy Beane, the legendary manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team who managed to lead them to a winning season despite their relatively small budget. It’s a nice simple underdog story that could have easily been buried in melodrama and schmaltz.
Thankfully the script doesn’t take that approach. The pacing is nice and brisk. We start with an intro focused on the Yankees’ winning 2001 season. Brad Pitt’s Beane is a no nonsense general manager looking to get the Oakland A’s stakeholders to recognize the need to innovate to compete with wealthier teams. His struggles against organizational inertia, fear of change, and personality conflicts mirror a lot of my own experience as a consultant. But again I love how Pitt doesn’t play it as Oscar bait. Everything from Billy’s relationship with his daughter, his visit to his ex-wife, his risk of failing and losing his job — it’s all played very maturely and matter of fact. Where there is humor it is appropriate and subtle.
The fact is that the story of the A’s miraculous season really doesn’t need any dressing up. It’s a great example of how creative thinking and technology can massively shift a culture. Beane’s line about the team being “card counters at the casino” is one I use frequently when pitching to clients. It goes to show that the themes transcend sports. If you missed this one, make time for it. It will do you good.
Grade: B+
