Director - Bennett Miller
Genre - Biography/Drama/Sport
Based on a real story, Brad Pitt is the 'adapt or you die' General Manager of Oakland Athletics, a baseball team with very little spending money. Going up against teams with deeper pockets and losing badly, he puts all his trust on a math wizard and the rest, as they say, is history. The movie doesn't really tread on unfamiliar grounds. The 'us against them' theme has been a part of American cinema for a long time. Films based on sports, especially those centered on actual events get made regularly because the drama on these exciting games are already so pronounced there isn't really any need to make anything up. Half the battle in creating a credible and fascinating story has already been won. You would think that with such meaty material to work with, the director could have taken more risks though. There weren't any scenes which would put this on an exclusive list of classics like 'The Natural' or 'Field of Dreams'. Philip Seymour Hoffman was completely under-utilized too in a thankless role. Brad Pitt did his job well but we've seen better from him. Still, if you don't think of the missed opportunities, this is quite a winner.
3.5 STARS!
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