I’m not a fan of sports movies in general. After broadcasting thousands of events, I think too often these movies fail to capture the “real-life” story of their game. Most times the drama on the screen doesn’t match the way things really are on the field. Most sports movies are made for the public in general, rather than for actual sports fans. Watered down and dumbed down.
I think Moneyball is different. In my opinion, it is a terrific movie and a wonderful baseball movie. Sure, there is a good degree of poetic license. One of the main characters, Peter Brand, never existed. And the 2002 A’s biggest stars – Hudson, Mulder, Zito, Tejada and Chavez – are hardly mentioned. True, they were the main reason this team won 103 games. Some well-respected baseball colleagues of mine consider the movie a bomb. This still surprises me. As a baseball movie, I still consider it a home run. It was fun and it made me laugh!
I’m not a huge Brad Pitt fan. However, this is the best I’ve ever seen him perform in a film. In this movie I felt as though he was a lifetime baseball man. As for Jonah Hill, he is one of the best. Watch him in any movie and you’re on the ground laughing. Superbad is one of my all-time favorites and, again, very true-to-life. Hill's timing and delivery is second-to-none. I’ll tweet this post to him to get his thoughts.
From a broadcaster’s point of view, I feel the day to day aspect of this movie was extremely authentic. From scenes in the clubhouse, the team offices and with the scouts. From my time in the game, this really is the way it happens. Baseball people really can be as petty or arrogant as many of these characters are. This movie truly captured big league baseball, in my opinion. I am glad some facts didn’t get in the way of this great story.
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