Moneyball

Moneyball

It's a familiar story — underdog sports team overcomes insurmountable odds for an inspiring run at on-field glory. However, in this tale inspired by true events and starring Brad Pitt as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, director Bennett Miller shifts the focus away from athletic prowess and sets his sights instead on sabermetrics, the innovative — and still controversial — analysis of baseball statistics. Enlisting the help of pudgy Ivy Leaguer Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), former big leaguer Beane looks to the data as a way of rebuilding his ailing ball club — and securing his legacy in the game he loves. While a film based on cold hard numbers could come across equally as lifeless, the unlikely pairing of Pitt and Hill as baseball's determined black sheep makes for a winning formula in "Moneyball."