Moneyball is the usual improbables coming together and winning sports movie masala but without the 'chak de india' factor. Why it works is because it has the usual plot but unusual treatment. It does not have any emotional motivational speeches. Does not have a sad story behind the success of the protagonist. Does not make him a hero of sorts. Basically it's a sports movie without the usual sport movie-ish-ness. Brilliant performance by Brad Pitt. Engrossing Screenplay. Good Direction and overall a light movie you wouldn't mind spending your money on. Though an oscar nominee, it's not one of those heavy oscar movie material where 'cinema' takes precedence over a 'movie'. Absolute Recommended to watch. Though it didn't win it, definitely my pick of the lot this year for it's right mix of lightness, entertainment, story and performances. Totally Feel Good movie of the year :)
Moneyball is about a baseball general manager (Brad Pitt) whose team does not have sufficient funds to compete with the big leaguers. His players are being bought by the other big teams and he is simply sick of sticking to the old rules of buying players and hoping they convert to wins. He meets a fresh Yale Economics graduate, who takes a different view on the things and they decide to buy 'value for money' players and take a statistical approach towards baseball. Everyone hates them, they are on a losing streak and then things change and they (whether or not) end up setting up a record of straight wins (or losses) in the league that year. Along the narrative, there is a backstory of Brad pitt being a young baseball player who leaves a stanford education for the money baseball pays and is a failure. He takes a vow of not taking decisions on money. At the end, he is made an offer where he would be the highest paid GM in the history of the sport. Does he accept? Watch the movie to know.
The best part about the movie according to me was its non-preachiness. the usual melodrama, the rona dhona, the coming together as a team and all those melodramatic 'Sattar minute' speeches are not present which essentially are considered the very backbone of every sports movie. That's what i loved most. It's a sports movie unlike the other sports movies. It's not about the losers getting motivated and then winning. It's about taking a different approach towards the game and then sticking to it and coming out as a winner. It's not the sad story of a sports coach. It touches the point but is not clingy about it. It's not being too emotional helps the cause else it would have been yet another and it is not.
The plot itself is the backbone of the movie. It could not have been half the movie it is, had the things that took place, had not taken place. The actual story is very interesting and how the events unravel makes the plot interesting and the director's job much easier. It's not difficult to like a movie when you are absorbed in the story as an audience. Brad Pitt is amazing. Subtle but amazing. He does not go overboard anywhere. He just plays the part as it should have been. Taking it easy like a normal sports GM rather than being a Hero of the game. He believed in something and stuck with it, that's it. He wasn't a hero fo some sort for a larger than life image and that's what he does. Does not portray the character being any larger than he is supposed to be. Though that does not make him an oscar contender but yeah, does well for the movie definitely.
Well, there was hardly anything that i didn't like about the movie or may be i was too immersed in how the plot would unfold in the end. Then the end credit and a final song sun by the girl adds to the overall feel once the movie is over. On the negative side if you are looking for an award winning movie which makes you think and love the 'cinema' aspect of movie making then moneyball is not the one to go for. Watch The Artist instead. And yeah, i wished that the movie had some more dramatisation especially in the last half an hour. The last half an hour should have been about 45 minutes atleast. Could cut down the earlier 15 and give it to the last part and it would have been more enjoyable. The last 15 minutes actually turn out to be the best.
Overall: A pretty neat 'feel-good' sports movie without the usual sports movie masala. Absolutely Recommended.
Feel-O-Meter: 9/10