200 Movies, 1 Woman, 1 Blog

Moneyball, 2011, USA

I need to be honest: I’m not a baseball fan. This is probably the first baseball film I’ve ever seen. But I truly enjoyed it, and my lack of detailed sporting knowledge didn’t hinder the experience too much.

The Oakland Athletics are a lower budget baseball team and cannot afford the top players and the salaries they come with. Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is their General Manager and has to find a way to replace their best players who have signed contracts with more lucrative teams. He meets Peter (Jonah Hill), an economics major who uses statistics to determine which players are the best, instead of the traditional scouting system. His claim: many players are undervalued because of quirks in their playing style or their personal life. Billy hires Peter and together they come up with a new roster of undervalued players. Their strategy is an unpopular one, and they face opposition from the team’s coach (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

The film does use statistics at times throughout the film, and of course, those all went over my head. I don’t know a thing about batting averages or on plate averages. But that wasn’t a big deal as the filmmakers were careful to make it accessible to everyone. If our protagonists were happy with the players they were picking, I just assumed they had good averages.

I’m not the biggest Brad Pitt fan, admittedly, but he did a decent job with the film. Him and Jonah Hill had good chemistry and worked well together. Hill is playing the same awkward sort of character he often plays, but he was a charming sidekick. The story itself was very interesting. I had no idea that this sort of analysis was possible in baseball, and is apparently pretty commonplace today. I often underestimate the amount of skill it takes to put together a sports team. The folks who build a team (whether professional or not) need to look at the skill of the players and work to complement all of the people on the field (or ice) at any given time. It must be a ton of work.

Would it be possible to adapt this sort of analysis for other sports, such as hockey? I thought of the Winnipeg Jets as I watched this film. We must have one of the smaller budgets in the league, so if we were able to sign talent that has been “undervalued”, that would be great for the team.

While Moneyball definitely isn’t the sort of movie I see often, I really enjoyed it. It was a nice surprise.

I was thinking today about how I really got started watching movies as a hobby. Most specifically, about how my personality is so suited to this hobby.

I’m the sort of person who does not care for feeling physically uncomfortable. I rarely wear heels or any other shoe that hurts my feet, and I dislike temperatures above 25 C and below freezing. I greatly enjoy air conditioning in the summer, and a large quantity of blankets in the winter. My lack of athletic ability also hinders my enjoyment of the great outdoors slightly, as well. I love going for walks, the occasional swim and jog, but the thought of playing football gives me anxiety. I don’t mind skiing, and a few other sports, though!

I’m not quite that bad at skiing.

However, I have no fear of feeling emotionally uncomfortable. I love being challenged emotionally, and morally. This makes it easy for me to enjoy many of the movies that receive critical acclaim when awards season comes around. Even when a movie is very draining, I feel satisfied because I’ve watched something interesting, beautiful and challenging.

In many ways, I suppose I lack complexity when it comes to the great outdoors and competitive physical activity. I imagine professional football players would find me quite dull. But, my interests lie elsewhere. I love film, and to a lesser extent, television. I’m happy to spend a Friday night at home with a good documentary or historical epic.

These personality quirks also come out when it comes to travel. I’ve wanted to visit Europe for years to see the architecture and museums. Unlike many, I’ve never strongly aspired to visit tropical destinations where the primary activity would be relaxing by a pool or on a beach. I’m a “doer”, and like exploring when I’m on vacation. I’ve certainly felt tempted by tropical destinations (they are far cheaper than Europe!) but I think I’d end up feeling a bit bored. I’m also longing to go to New York – not to shop, but to see as many Broadway shows as possible.

I’d like to be more of an outdoors person, though. I feel slightly guilty for spending much of my summer indoors – but I just can’t take extreme heat. I’m hoping for a milder winter so I can enjoy the winter weather a bit more than I enjoyed the summer weather. And I would love to go skating this winter!