‘Moneyball’ Trailer Has The Look and Feel of Another Great Sports Movie

Don’t miss the trailer for Moneyball which can be seen after the jump. The film is adapted from the same titled book written by Michael Lewis. The story follows the debated genius of Billy Beane, the General Manager for the Oakland Athletics. Beane uses unorthodox tactics to build his baseball teams — by unorthodox I mean Beane and the Oakland management do not simply throw money at free agent players to build their squad. Oakland is a dirt poor franchise, and find “outcast” players who can play a specific role on the team to help it win. The rosters put forth rarely seem formidable, but the Oakland teams in the 2000′s always flirted with the postseason — this is definitely a story that needs to be told. Add Brad Pitt into the mix as Beane and this is surely an awards contender come the Winter season.

I am a huge sports fanatic; my obsession rivals that of my love for movies. Let me tell you, the story of the Athletics competing with other teams in Major League Baseball that dwarf the Oakland payroll is a remarkable one. Reading the book Moneyball, I was blown away by the amount of work Beane does to find players who fit the mold as cheap and effective additions to his roster. Oakland has boasted two MVP trophies in the past ten years with Miguel Tejada and Jason Giambi. The team uses their rising talent and trades them to other teams to get more young prospects. This way, when a player has ascended to greatness, Oakland doesn’t have to pay the big money to keep them. Instead, Oakland just works on cultivating the young talent they receive from trading big names. Of course this is a sad formula if fans get attached to star players, but this method has proven effective.

When I heard there would be a Moneyball film, I was eagerly anticipating the day I would get to watch a cinematic version of this story. Shortly after it was announced Aaron Sorkin would be writing the screenplay with Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York, American Gangster), and then Brad Pitt joined the crew, Phillip Seymour Hoffman was added as the A’s manager Art Howe,  and finally Jonah Hill rounded out the cast as a young baseball statistician. At this point I was licking my chops — there was no way this could be a bad film. Now, we have a wonderful trailer to behold, and let me assure you, it does not disappoint. Check it out.

It is nice to see Jonah Hill branching out from purely comedic roles and testing his talents alongside greats like Pitt and Hoffman. Though this is just a taste of his work in this film, I think he fits nicely from what I can tell. The days until I see this film cannot go by quick enough. I absolutely worship Brad Pitt in any role he is in, and Hoffman is in the same territory. Neither actor seems to make a bad flick. Same goes for Sorkin as a screenwriter and his nearly flawless track record of quality films. Start marking your calendar, the film is set to drop this Fall.

{Banner Picture via Slashfilm}

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