You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate this story, but if you were, you’d certainly appreciate it all the more. I hear of some people who obsess over player statistics, and if that it your cup of tea, well then, this movie would give you goose bumps! And although, I didn’t get said goose bumps, I certainly enjoyed a great story of how strategic thinking can change the course of human affairs– well, at least of professional baseball teams. Because, what this story tells you is that when the going gets tough, you don’t use the ‘same old-same old’ ways of thinking and doing; you do something different altogether, even if it means going against the tide– and sometimes even if your job is on the line!
Brad Pitt is brilliant in the role of Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A’s. He personifies the grace and suaveness of the athlete that he had once-been, and the hard nosed recruiter and handler of players and coaches that he has since become. Not only is he bold in introducing his ideas to the owner and stakeholders of the team, he is shrewd to detect the unseen layers of insight and analysis that can reveal a different story and offer possibilities where none seem to exist on the outside. Hiring an Ivy League twenty-five year old with a degree in Economics is the key to such insight and analysis, and the rest, as they say, is history.
With groundbreakingly bizarre ways of determining which players are worth taking a chance on, and which need to be traded, Pitt and his assistant, the very talented Jonah Hill, go about the business of restructuring the A’s. Needless to say, this is a make or break style that is adopted– much to the shock and chagrin of many– including the head coach. But long story short, the configuration of the players in this team essentially makes it a new team, per se, and before you know it, all the other professional baseball teams in the country have adopted the same style of baseball philosophy: forget appearance and instinct; look at the stats and place your bets. So much so, that the Boston Red Sox World Series win some years back has been credited to this style of management.
Like the Facebook movie of a year ago, this one is similar in setting up a story of how an organization is built– actually, rebuilt. Great performance by Pitt– I can’t imagine who might have played him better, really. The personal story of Beane’s relationship with his young daughter, and the emotional fortitude that is portrayed on that front also deserve high marks. Not the regular Hollywood blockbuster, but worth your time and money, for sure!
