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Moneyball

Moneyball (film)

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Moneyball

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bennett Miller
Produced by Michael De Luca
Rachael Horovitz
Brad Pitt
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
Aaron Sorkin
Story by Stan Chervin
Based on Moneyball by
Michael Lewis
Starring Brad Pitt
Jonah Hill
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Music by Mychael Danna
Cinematography Wally Pfister
Editing by Christopher Tellefsen
Studio Scott Rudin Productions
Michael De Luca Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
  • September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23) (United States)
Running time 133 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $50 million[2]
Box office $110,206,216 [3]

Moneyball is a 2011 biographical sports drama film directed by Bennett Miller and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film is based on Michael Lewis's 2003 book of the same name, an account of the Oakland Athletics baseball team's 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane's attempts to assemble a competitive team. In the film, Beane (Brad Pitt) and assistant GM Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), faced with the franchise's unfavorable financial situation, take a sophisticated sabermetric approach towards scouting and analyzing players, acquiring "submarine" pitcher Chad Bradford (Casey Bond) and former catcher Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt), and winning 20 consecutive games, an American League record.

Columbia Pictures bought the rights to Lewis's book in 2004.[4] After a number of years in development, the film was featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival[5] and was released on September 23, 2011 to critical acclaim.[6] The film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Actor and Best Picture on January 24, 2012.[7]

Contents

  • 1 Plot
  • 2 Cast
  • 3 Production
  • 4 Reception
    • 4.1 Critical reception
    • 4.2 Top ten lists
    • 4.3 Accolades
  • 5 References
  • 6 External links

Plot

Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is upset by his team's loss to the New York Yankees in the 2001 postseason. With the impending departure of star players Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen to free agency, Beane attempts to devise a strategy for assembling a competitive team for 2002 but struggles to overcome Oakland's limited player payroll. During a visit to the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young Yale economics graduate with radical ideas about how to assess players' value. Beane tests Brand's theory by asking whether he would have drafted him (out of high school), Beane having been a Major League player before becoming general manager. Though scouts considered Beane a phenomenal player, his career in the Major Leagues was disappointing. After some prodding, Brand admits that he would not have drafted him until the ninth round and that Beane should probably have accepted a scholarship to Stanford instead. Sensing opportunity, Beane hires Brand as the Athletics' assistant general manager.

The team's scouts are first dismissive of and then hostile towards Brand's non-traditional sabermetric approach to scouting players, most notably Grady Fuson (Ken Medlock) – who is fired by Beane after insulting their approach, and takes to the radio airwaves and doubts the team's future. Rather than relying on the scouts' experience and intuition, Brand selects players based almost exclusively on their on base percentage (OBP). By finding players with a high OBP but with characteristics that lead scouts to dismiss them, Brand assembles a team of undervalued players with far more potential than the A's hamstrung finances would otherwise allow. Despite vehement objections from the scouts, Beane supports Brand's theory and hires the players he selected, such as unorthodox submarine pitcher Chad Bradford (Casey Bond). Following the free agent signings, Beane finds that he also faces opposition from Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the Athletics' manager. With tensions already high between them because of a contract dispute, Howe disregards Beane and Brand's strategy and plays the team in a traditional style despite their unsuitability. Beane eventually trades away the lone traditional star player, Carlos Peña, to force Howe to use the new recruits.

Early in the season, the Athletics fare poorly, leading critics within and outside the team to dismiss the new method as a dismal failure. Beane convinces the owner to stay the course, and eventually the team's record begins to improve. Ultimately, the Athletics win 20 consecutive games, setting the American League record. Their streak is capped with a victory over the Kansas City Royals. Like many baseball players, Beane is superstitious and avoids attending or sometimes even following games as they are in progress. His young daughter implores him to go to the A's final game against the Royals, where Oakland is already leading 11–0 after the third inning and appears set to advance their winning streak to a record-breaking 20. Beane arrives in the fourth inning, only to watch the team go to pieces and eventually allow the Royals to even the score 11–11. Finally, the A's do win, on a walk-off home run by one of Brand's picks, Scott Hatteberg. Then, despite all their success in the second half of the season, the A's lose in the first round of the postseason, this time to the Minnesota Twins. Beane is disappointed, but satisfied at having demonstrated the value of his and Brand's methods. Beane is later approached by the owner of the Boston Red Sox, who realizes that the sabermetric model is the future of baseball, and offers to hire Beane as the general manager of the Red Sox.

In closing, the film notes that Beane passed up the opportunity to become the general manager of the Boston Red Sox, despite an offer of a $12.5 million salary, which would have made him the highest-paid general manager in sports history. He returns to Oakland to continue managing the Athletics. Meanwhile, two years after adopting the sabermetric model, the Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918.

Cast

  • Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics
  • Jonah Hill as Peter Brand, Beane's assistant general manager
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe, the manager of the Oakland Athletics
  • Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg, A's first baseman
  • Casey Bond as Chad Bradford, A's submarine relief pitcher
  • Stephen Bishop as David Justice, A's outfielder
  • Royce Clayton as Miguel Tejada, A's shortstop
  • David Hutchison as John Mabry, A's utility player
  • Nick Porrazzo as Jeremy Giambi, A's outfielder
  • Robin Wright as Sharon, Beane's ex-wife and mother of Casey
  • Kerris Dorsey as Casey Beane
  • Ken Medlock as Grady Fuson, scouting director of the Oakland Athletics
Cast notes
  • Peter Brand is a composite character partly based on Paul DePodesta, who did not want his name used in the film.[8][9]
  • Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, makes an uncredited cameo appearance as former A's owner Stephen Schott.[10]
  • Spike Jonze has a small uncredited role as Alán, Sharon's spouse.
  • Musician Joe Satriani appears as himself, performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on electric guitar.
  • Arliss Howard briefly appears as John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Production

Stan Chervin developed the first initial drafts of the screenplay after Columbia Pictures bought rights to Lewis's book in 2004. Once Brad Pitt committed to the project in 2007, Chervin dropped out. Steve Zaillian was signed to write a second screenplay, and David Frankel was signed to direct.[11] Steven Soderbergh was subsequently signed to replace Frankel.[12] Demetri Martin was cast to portray the role of Paul DePodesta, Beane's top assistant. Former Athletics Scott Hatteberg and David Justice were slated to play themselves in the movie.[13] When asked how the film would dramatize and make entertaining a book about statistics, Soderbergh said:

I think we have a way in, making it visual and making it funny. I want it to be really funny and entertaining, and I want you to not realize how much information is being thrown at you because you're having fun. We've found a couple of ideas on how to bust the form a bit, in order for all that information to reach you in a way that's a little oblique.[14]

On June 19, 2009, days before filming was set to begin, Sony put the picture on hold.[12][15] Zaillian's and Soderbergh's plan for the film called for elements considered non-traditional for a sports movie, such as interviews with real-life players. Soderbergh was dismissed, and was ultimately replaced by Bennett Miller.[16] Aaron Sorkin wrote a third version of the screenplay.[12][16]

Miller hired Ken Medlock, a former minor league baseball player and actor who plays scout Grady Fuson, as a technical advisor. Medlock invited professional scout Artie Harris to lend Medlock credibility. Harris, himself a self styled "old-fashioned scout", subsequently auditioned for and obtained a role in the film as a scout who typically disregards sabermetrics.[17] Baseball figures, including scout Phil Pote and baseball coaches and managers George Vranau and Barry Moss, were cast in supporting roles.[18]

With Martin no longer involved, Jonah Hill was cast to play DePodesta. However, feeling the character was becoming fictional, DePodesta requested his name not be used. Hill's role was transformed into a composite character, named Peter Brand.[19]

Filming began in July 2010.[20] Filming locations included Fenway Park, the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, Dodger Stadium and Blair Field,[21] while studio shooting took place at Sony's Culver City studios.

Reception

Critical reception

Moneyball has received near-universal acclaim. As of March 19, 2012 the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes registered positive responses in 205 of 217 sampled reviews for a score of 94% and certified the film "Fresh." The critical consensus of the site states that "Director Bennett Miller, along with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, take a niche subject and turn it into a sharp, funny, and touching portrait worthy of baseball lore".[22] In comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 87 based on 41 reviews.[23]

The film has received a similarly positive response from audiences. A CinemaScore analysis found that people who had just seen the film gave it an average letter score of 'A'.[24]

Top ten lists

The film has appeared on the following critics' top ten lists for the best films of 2011:

Critic Publication Rank
Rene Rodriguez Miami Herald 1st[25]
Lisa Kennedy Denver Post 1st[25]
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune 2nd[25]
Satya Nagendra Padala International Business Times 2nd[26]
Ann Hornaday The Washington Post 3rd[27]
Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News 3rd[25]
Peter Travers Rolling Stone 4th[28]
David Fear Time Out New York 4th[25]
N/A TV Guide 6th[25]
Joe Neumaier New York Daily News 6th[25]
Marshall Fine Hollywood & Fine 6th[25]
Betsy Sharkey Los Angeles Times 7th[25]
Robbie Collin The Telegraph 8th[25]
Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly 8th[25]
Dave McCoy MSN Movies 8th[25]
Kim Lorgan MSN Movies 8th[25]
Richard T. Jameson MSN Movies 10th[25]
Stephen Holden The New York Times 10th[25]
Karina Longworth The Village Voice 10th[25]

Accolades

Award Category Recipient Result
84th Academy Awards[29][30] Best Picture Nominated
Best Actor Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Jonah Hill Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian; Story by Stan Chervin Nominated
Best Film Editing Christopher Tellefsen Nominated
Best Sound Mixing Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco, and Ed Novick Nominated
American Film Institute Movies of the Year Won
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards[31] Best Film – International Nominated
Best Screenplay – International Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin Nominated
Best Actor – International Brad Pitt Nominated
65th British Academy Film Awards[32][33] BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Brad Pitt Nominated
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jonah Hill Nominated
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actor Brad Pitt Won
Best Screenplay Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Picture Nominated
Best Actor Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Screenplay Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian Won
Denver Film Critics Society[34] Best Actor Brad Pitt Won
Best Screenplay Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
Story by Stan Chervin		 Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture - Drama Nominated
Best Actor - Drama Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Jonah Hill Nominated
Best Screenplay Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor Brad Pitt (Also for The Tree of Life) Won
Best Screenplay Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian Won
Online Film Critics Society[35] Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
People's Choice Awards[36] Favorite Drama Movie Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society[37][38] Best Picture Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jonah Hill Nominated
Best Original Score Nominated
Producers Guild of America Award[39] Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt Nominated
Satellite Awards Motion Picture Nominated
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jonah Hill Nominated
Adapted Screenplay Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian, Stan Chervin Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Brad Pitt Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Jonah Hill Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle[40] Best Screenplay Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Moneyball (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 2011-09-05. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (September 22, 2011). "Movie Projector: Brad Pitt vs. 'Lion King,' 'Dolphin Tale' for No.1". Los Angeles Times. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved September 22, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Moneyball (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  4. ^ Shea, John (October 18, 2008). "Beane a sex symbol in 'Moneyball' movie?". SFGate.com. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
  5. ^ "TIFF 2011: U2, Brad Pitt, George Clooney Films Featured At 2011 Toronto International Film Festival". The Huffington Post. 26 July 2006. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved August 25, 2011. 
  6. ^ "'Moneyball' To Get the Ball Rolling Sep. 23". Entertainment Weekly. November 24, 2010. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved December 10, 2010. 
  7. ^ "2012 Academy Award Nominations!". The Mud Doctor. 2012-01-24. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2012-01-24. 
  8. ^ Costa, Brian (2011-09-16). "The Man Not Named in 'Moneyball' - WSJ.com". Online.WSJ.com. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2011-11-26. 
  9. ^ "Bill Plaschke: Paul DePodesta is captured to a tee in film 'Moneyball' - Los Angeles Times". Articles.LATimes.com. 2011-09-20. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2011-11-26. 
  10. ^ Good, Owen (2011-08-06). "Hooray! Now We Know Why Bobby Kotick is in that Brad Pitt Movie". Kotaku. class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.btitle=Hooray%21+Now+We+Know+Why+Bobby+Kotick+is+in+that+Brad+Pitt+Movie&rft.atitle=%5B%5BKotaku%5D%5D&rft.aulast=Good&rft.aufirst=Owen&rft.au=Good%2C%26%2332%3BOwen&rft.date=2011-08-06&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fkotaku.com%2F5828379%2Fhooray-now-we-know-why-bobby-kotick-is-in-that-brad-pitt-movie&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Moneyball_(film)"> 
  11. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2008-10-16). "Columbia pitches Moneyball to Pitt". Variety. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  12. ^ a b c Ditzian, Eric (September 23, 2011). "'Moneyball' Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know". MTV Movie News. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved October 26, 2011. 
  13. ^ Stiglich, Joe. "A's notebook: Lights, camera, action ... for Moneyball," InsideBayArea.com (May 26, 2009).
  14. ^ "Steven Soderbergh: The Girlfriend Experience". SuicideGirls.com. 21 May 2009. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
  15. ^ (June 21, 2009). "Production On Moneyball Film Halted". LATimes.com. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  16. ^ a b (April 12, 2010). "Finally, It's Batter Up For 'Moneyball'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
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  20. ^ (July 30, 2010). "'Moneyball' shoot brings back memories". SFGate.com. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  21. ^ Ugland, Devin (October 3, 2011). "Brad Pitt’s ‘Moneyball’ shot at Blair Field". Daily 49er. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved October 4, 2011. 
  22. ^ "Moneyball". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved March 19, 2012. 
  23. ^ "Moneyball". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved October 8, 2011. 
  24. ^ Kaufman, Amy (September 26, 2011). "'Moneyball' is a hit, but 'Lion' is box-office king". LATimes.com. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Dietz, Jason (December 8, 2011). "2011 Film Critic Top Ten Lists [Updated Dec. 22"]. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved December 24, 2011. 
  26. ^ Satya Nagendra Padala (November 25, 2011). "Top 10 Best Movies of 2011". International Business Times. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved December 25, 2011. 
  27. ^ Hornaday, Ann (December 10, 2011). "Ann Hornaday’s best films of 2011". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  28. ^ Travers, Peter (December 8, 2011). "10 Best Movies of 2011: Moneyball". Rolling Stone. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  29. ^ "Oscar 2012 winners – The full list". The Guardian. UK. 27 February 2012. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 29 February 2012. 
  30. ^ "Nominees and Winners for the 84th Academy Awards". Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  31. ^ "AACTA Awards winners and nominees". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). 31 January, 2012. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 4 February, 2012. 
  32. ^ "Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list - in full". Digital Bits. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
  33. ^ "BAFTA 2012 the winners - the full list". The Guardian. 12 February 2012. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 20 February 2012. 
  34. ^ "Denver Film Critics Society Announces 2012 Award Winners". Yahoo! Movies. January 11, 2012. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved January 11, 2012. 
  35. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (December 26, 2011). "'Tree of Life' leads with 7 nods from Online Film Critics Society". HitFix. 
  36. ^ "Nominations Announced for the 'People's Choice Awards 2012'". TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com. 2011-11-08. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2011-11-26. 
  37. ^ "Phoenix Film Critics Society 2011 Award Nominations". Phoenix Film Critics Society. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved January 6, 2011. 
  38. ^ "Phoenix Film Critics Society 2011 Awards". Phoenix Film Critics Society. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved January 6, 2012. 
  39. ^ "PGA ANNOUNCES THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE AND LONG-FORM TELEVISION NOMINATIONS FOR 2012 PGA AWARDS". producersGuild.org. January 3, 2011. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved January 5, 2011. 
  40. ^ Monk, Katherine (January 3, 2012). "Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominations: The Artist leads with four nods". The Vancouver Sun. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved January 6, 2012. 

External links

Baseball portal
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Moneyball (film)
  • Moneyball at the Internet Movie Database
  • Moneyball at AllRovi
  • Moneyball at Box Office Mojo
  • Moneyball at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Moneyball at Metacritic

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