Moneyball (2011)
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A baseball general manager uses unconventional statistics to build a competitive team with a limited budget.
The story
The Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball struggle to field competitive teams due to low revenue and owners reluctant to spend money. General manager Billy Beane, facing a paltry budget for the 2002 season, seeks a new way to build his roster. He partners with his deputy, Peter Brand, to adopt a sophisticated sabermetric approach to scouting and analyzing players. By focusing on undervalued talent and unconventional metrics like on-base percentage, they attempt to challenge the traditional scouting methods of the baseball community, despite facing significant skepticism and internal resistance from those accustomed to the status quo.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After losing the 2001 ALDS to the wealthy New York Yankees, Billy Beane is tasked with building a competitive team for the 2002 season with a limited budget. He hires Peter Brand, a Yale economics graduate, to help him identify undervalued players using sabermetrics. They focus on on-base percentage rather than traditional stats, acquiring players like Scott Hatteberg and David Justice. Beane faces pushback from the media, his manager Art Howe, and his own scouts. Despite a rocky start and internal friction, the team begins to succeed. Beane eventually makes several strategic trades to solidify the roster. The film culminates in a dramatic game against the Kansas City Royals where the team mounts a comeback. In the aftermath, Beane is offered a lucrative contract by the Boston Red Sox. The film ends with a revelation that the Red Sox used similar sabermetric strategies to win the 2004 World Series, while Beane's own quest to change the game continues.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 133
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Bennett Miller
- Writers
- Steven Zaillian · screenplay; Aaron Sorkin · screenplay; Stan Chervin · story
- Cast and characters
- Brad Pitt · Billy Beane; Jonah Hill · Peter Brand; Philip Seymour Hoffman · Art Howe; Robin Wright · Beane's ex-wife; Chris Pratt · Hatteberg; Kerris Dorsey · Casey Beane
- Genres
- biographical; sports drama
- Themes
- innovation; underdog story; data vs tradition
- Tone and mood
- serious; inspiring
- Premise and plot tags
- sports; biography; data-driven
- Source material / true-story basis
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim, particularly for its acting and screenplay, and was praised for its intelligence and depth.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 94% · scale: percentage · review count: 265; Metacritic · score: 87 · scale: 100 · review count: 42
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Actor · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Supporting Actor · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Sound Mixing · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Film Editing · Nomination
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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