Moneyball

Moneyball is movie that is entirely about baseball, but is so well-made and gripping that it can be enjoyed even if you have no interest in the sport. It’s the story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the General Manager of the Oaklands Athletics and how he takes the team through a record-breaking season despite having a budget for players that is a fraction of that of major teams such as the Yankees or Red Sox. He does this by employing a rational, results-based approach to the selection of players called Sabermetrics, propagated in the film by a Yale Economics graduate, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), whom Billy hires as his assistant GM. It’s a bit like applying the principles of value investing to baseball. It’s a true story, based on the book by Michael Lewis, who also wrote the financial exposés, Liars’ Poker and The Big Short. It also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as the team’s manager. Great performances all ‘round and great storytelling form director Bennett Milller.