Brad Pitt turns in a wonderfully engaging performance as Billy Beane, an ex-underachiever of a pro baseball player who ultimately gets a new lease in life as the GM for the Oakland A's. Moneyball--which is based on a true story-- delves into the inner workings of the baseball player trade industry and while the film is talkie and dense, its brought to colorful life by Pitt and Jonah Hill who make a surprisingly effective duo. It certainly helps that the richly textured screenplay was penned by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (two of the best writers in the business). Director Bennett Miller (Capote) takes a restrained approach to the material, and while there's certainly a "sports underdog prevails" aspect to the story, Moneyball ducks a lot of the cliches typically associated with this kind of picture. I've always been a fan of baseball, but I must confess that I was not at all familiar with this story of a down on his luck general manager who would stop at nothing to get the most mileage out of a miniscule team payroll. What the Oakland A's managed to accomplish through Beane's unorthodox strategy (which he developed through the aid of Hill's Peter Brand) was quite miraculous and while Beane was shunned for his desperate (and driven) methods during a turbulent but magical season, his strategy would be picked up by other organizations and used to strong effect in the years that would follow. In short, Beane changed the game and even though a World Series eluded him, the man made a big impact. Perhaps the most prophetic aspect to Moneyball is the final moment in which Beane commits an act of sheer loyalty thereby displaying a level of integrity that sadly we don't really see that much of in the sports world these days.

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