BY MIKEY MIGO
I really didn’t have too big of expectations going into Moneyball. It seemed like one of those overly dramatic sports movies. Something just seemed dry about it. Brad Pitt as a normal guy general manager seemed too hard to swallow. I wasn’t expecting Major League or anything silly. I expected something like a less imaginative “Natural” or maybe a more serious “Jerry Maguire” type of approach. I like Jonah Hill, but I didn’t care that he was in this. I think part of me didn’t want to see him play the frumpy fat guy sidekick to Mr. America Brad Pitt. So yeah, I had my issues with this movie. On the flipside, Aaron Sorkin did some scribbles for this one so I felt really inclined to be at least open minded. That made it an even playing field, no pun intended. The movie ended up being pretty decent. It was what I was expecting. I must say, it really WAS dry. I could see the emotion and understand it enough to keep watching but it doesn’t connect. Brad Pitt is adequate in this, but being a fan of his I tend to expect more. Jonah Hill did alright. He was playing a more serious, more reclusive type of role. I know it was a comedy, but I feel like Jonah showed more range in “Cyrus” than this. He was charming and all that, but I didn’t see any chemistry between the two leads. Philip Seymour Hoffman is wasted here as the rebellious coach. He gets a comeuppance and then becomes a non-factor. Story wise, it was interesting and well done. I’m a casual sports fan, but baseball is typically a sport I don’t keep up on. I really didn’t know what I was getting into via the history of what happened. I remember when those players left the A’s, but none of the after effect or back story. When a movie coasts on “adequate”, you get to pay attention to the little things and supporting roles. That’s what I liked about the movie. Chris Pratt’s performance as Scott Hatteberg was great. He felt like a natural baseball player. I know others have played ball before playing a baseball player, but Pratt rocked this. It’s a simple approach, but you instantly “get” him and can’t help but cheer him on. Overall, I’d probably not want to watch this movie again. I’m not upset or anything that I spent the 2 hours with it, but it just wasn’t all that good. I don’t get the hype and grand reviews for this movie. Being a little generous with this, I’d give it a B-
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