Review: Moneyball

It would be dumb to say that Pitt “knocks it out of the park,” not merely because that’s always a dumb thing to say, but because the point of the movie is not that Billy Beane is a success. Sure, he assembled rusty spare parts into a 100-win machine; sure, his A’s set an AL record by winning 20 straight; sure, he helped transform the game of baseball; but that’s not the point.

The point is that Billy Beane is a failure.

He flamed out as a player. His A’s choked every year in the playoffs. As he says at one point in the film, he doesn’t love to win – he just hates to lose. Defeat is raw, an untreated wound just beneath the skin, and Pitt plays it beautifully throughout the film, from bristling at his ex-wife’s yuppie husband to swindling rivals at the trade deadline. In his own eyes, Billy Beane is always, always losing, and try as he might, he can’t make the pain go away.

The film’s resolution is superb. Three scenes, in the aftermath of yet another defeat, offer three takes on Beane’s legacy, three attempts to console the defeated warrior – first from his apprentice, then from his rival, and finally from his daughter. The third of these – just as the closing credits begin to roll – brings a surprising but well-earned catharsis.

Yes, Moneyball is just like baseball: a little slow, a little opaque, and in the end, so damn human that it’s hard not to love. ~Ben Orlin