Plot: What’s it about?
For the first fifteen years of my life I wanted to be a baseball player. I suspect that most kids did at one point in time. Ironically enough, as I got older, I did play sports but they weren’t team-oriented. I swam, played tennis and golf. Still, baseball is, has been and I venture to guess that it always will be the American past time. And, above everything else, baseball is a game of statistics and numbers. For every player that’s played the game, they’ve got a set of stats on them that can tell you where the pitcher threw the ball, if he swung and missed and if there was a hit. Numbers are everything. Nowhere is this more relevant than in Michael Lewis’ novel Moneyball. Lewis also authored another book, later turned into an Academy Award nominated film – The Big Short. I’ve seen it three times and still can’t figure it out. This is why my wife handles our finances.
After losing the 2001 Divisional Playoff to the New York Yankees, the Oakland A’s lost three of their marquee players: Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi and Jason Isringhausen to larger market teams. Sensing that these players would be next to impossible to replace on the A’s budget, General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) resorts to some rather avant garde options. After a failed recruiting trip with the Cleveland Indians, Beane recruits Yale economic prodigy Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). The two come up with a system based on “On Base Percentage.” For those unfamiliar with baseball, the more your players are on base, the greater chance of them scoring and thus the better odds that your team will win. This leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the traditional scouts who rely on instinct and the attractiveness of the players’ girlfriends. Out of the gate, Beane’s system doesn’t seem to work and with the lack of cooperation by team manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) the prognosis doesn’t look good. But after a bit of tinkering, the A’s start to win some games and eventually put together something that’s not been done in the history of baseball – a twenty game winning streak. This does, of course, beg the question…does this do any good if you can’t win the entire season?
I loved Moneyball though I’m a bit biased. Like most other sports movies out there, it doesn’t contain a lot of actual “play” but that’s not really the point. Brad Pitt, while not bearing any sort of striking resemblance to Billy Beane, does a phenomenal job with the role. His understated performance give the film its backbone. Meanwhile Jonah Hill sheds his comedic roots and turned in an Academy Award nominated role as Peter Brand (he would lose to Christopher Plummer in Beginners). The real focus here is the sport of baseball and the different approach that revolutionized the sport. Two years later the Boston Red Sox used this system to win their first world series in 2004. Their fist in nearly a century. Beane was offered the role of General Manager. He declined.
Video: How does it look?
This 4K version celebrates the film’s 15th Anniversary. And this is the third major release of the film in an HD format. The first was put out by Sony in 2011 that we originally reviewed. It was followed a couple of years later by a “Mastered in 4K” version that was optimized for 4K TV’s. Bear in mind that in 2013 4K TV’s were still pretty rare. And, so, here we are with nearly a decade of 4K films on disc and we’ve got this. The obvious question is: does it look good? In a word – yes. The film is still relatively new, at least I think so, and Sony’s Blu-ray’s have never been all that bad. The 4K version gives us a proper 1.85:1 HEVC 4K image that gives us a bit more color, enhances the detail a bit and loses a little grain. That might sound like a lot, but in essence it’s just a way of saying “it looks really good.” If I were to walk in a room with this playing, I’d not be able to tell if it was the 4K or the Blu-ray. Still, I feel the picture has been worth the wait and if there’s a definitive version you’re after – this is it.
Audio: How does it sound?
Though it might seem ripe for the picking, there’s no Dolby Atmos mix to be found on this disc. The DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack has a few moments in which it shines, though the movie is essentially dialogue driven. There’s a scene that stuck out when baseball player David Justice is hitting balls in a batting cage and each “thwack” sounds pretty impressive. I’ve always been a fan of Mychael Danna’s subtle, understated score. It reminds me of the Academy Award winning track by Trent Reznor from The Social Network.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Most everything from the previous versions has made the leap to this 4K disc and we even get a new feature in a theatrical trailer. Yay.
- Deleted Scenes – Three total, giving us nearly 12 minutes’ worth. But given the film’s long running time, these were wisely cut.
- Billy Tells Art: Play Bradford
- Tara and Billy Dinner
- Peter Offered GM Job
- Brad Loses It – Essentially a blooper reel where Pitt can’t hold it together.
- Billy Beane: Re-Inventing the Game – Author Michael Lewis, Director Bennett Miller, Aaron Sorkin and Billy Beane discuss some of the logistics of the game, the influence of the novel and how they brought it to the screen.
- Drafting the Team – In essence, a glorified casting reel.
- Moneyball: Playing the Game – The cast and crew reflect on re-creating the games of the 2002 season as well as some of the logistics in bringing everything together.
- Adapting Moneyball – Essentially that. This gives us the low down on how Lewis’ novel was brought to the screen.
- Theatrical Trailer – Yes, this is a “new” feature for this disc. So if you’ve been waiting over a decade and a half for a trailer, your wait is over.
The Bottom Line
Moneyball is something I watch about once a year. I simply love it. Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay, the source material and the fact that all of this actually happened is music to my ears. This is one of Pitt’s stronger performances, an Oscar-nominated turn for Jonah Hill and a good early role for Chris Pratt among others. If you’re a fan of any of the above or, simply put, the game of baseball – this one is for you.
