I'm going to be honest. I don't like baseball. I think it is probably the most boring sport on the face of the earth. I live in Chicago, and we have 2 teams here. If pressed, I'd probably pledge my allegiance to the Cubs, for no other reason than my family are Cubs fans, and I went to college on the North Side. Not very good reasons, but the truth is I just don't care that much. And I'm fine with that. I think it might be fun to go and sit at Wrigley and watch a game, and I have done that. I'm just not much of a fan.
Naturally, baseball movies aren't my favorites either. I stay away in droves. This was the case with Moneyball when it first came out. I had no interest. Zero. Nada. But I was told by several people that I like very much that Moneyball was really very good and not all about baseball, and then I saw an interview with Brad Pitt where he talked about the movie, and damn it, I decided I had to give it a try. Plus, it was part of the all-important Best PictureQuest, and so there was really no other alternative.
I got it out of a Red Box (thank you, Red Box!). It is the true story of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane, a former baseball player himself, who has to find a new way to scout players on the A's slender budget. He uses statistics, rather than other generally accepted scouting methods, to create his team, much to the dismay of the scouts who have made their livelihoods in finding quality players by, you know, watching them play and assessing their potential.
I had never really thought a lot about Brad Pitt as an actor - since his work has sort of been eclipsed by his personal life, but he is a fine actor, and does a great job with Billy Beane. I mean honestly, he made me CARE about a baseball story. The man should get an Oscar just for that.
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