Moneyball

Aaron Sorkin's scripts tend to be synonymous of quality and indisputable sharpness and we have examples of it both on television, with the acclaimed "The West Wing of the White House”, and in the magnificent film script he wrote for “The Social Network”. In “Moneyball”, he co-wrote the script in collaboration with Steven Zailian (adapting it from the book by Michael Lewis by the same title). He leads us into the world of professional baseball through a character who lived beyond the sport, without caring about the economic impact that it could have on him and who believed in the possibility of using other methods to make a good team without spending millions in order to succeed.

Billy Beane, a former major league player, now manager of the Oakland Athletics, is a guy who tries with all his force and will to make a humble team into a competitive and winner one, at the level of teams like the Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, by using other strategies that do not rely on money.

His love for the sport, which in the past was a golden opportunity in his life, makes him hire a young economist who proposes new and innovative techniques based on player statistics and mathematical formulas, whose purpose is to find the best players among those rejected by the big teams.

This film looks beyond the sport, the importance lies not just in the game, but in the determination and efforts of people who believe above all in what they are building.

Brad Pitt makes an impeccable job as manager of the team, dedicated heart and soul to the sport. The worthy script gives us little glimpses of a private life for which he has never had enough time. We especially see glimpses of a past that clearly marks all his decisions, like the way he lives the matches (thing that will not be solved until the end), thus composing a sub-plot without any excess that brings the character closer to the public.

The reason for his actions is none other than that which usually happens in almost every sport: the departure of great players to big teams that buy them for exorbitant amounts of money. He is accompanied on this journey by a shy and friendly Jonah Hill, with whom he makes a good team, and by other side actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays the other side of the business of sport (a guy to whom it will cost to accept the new methods of Beane).

Beyond the interest or lack of it that one might have towards baseball, the importance of the film lies in the protagonist's struggle to change things in this David versus Goliath struggles, determined to take his Athtletics to the playoffs, revolutionizing the American League, building a team based on assets other than money. All actions that have repercussions in the baseball world

Despite looking like a story told a thousand times, "Moneyball" portrays a man who struggled to achieve the impossible, pushed by his great love and tremendous commitment to the sport. It is a charcater in which Brad Pitt seems to leave his heart, also thanks to the great advantage of having a brilliant script, awesome performance by its cast and a beautiful final scene that illustrates how winning or losing is not important, but what matters is to really believe in what you do.

Director: Bennett Miller

Writers: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay)

Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright and Jonah Hill