The will to win

There are many ways to enjoy Moneyball.
At first glance the plot is fairly unoriginal: the typical underdog team goes through a phase of pain and disillusions to unexpectedly reach the top thanks to an innovative and risky gamble. But fortunately for the viewer, the film revisits this over-used theme in a slightly more subtle fashion.

Inspired by a true story, the film focuses on Billy Beans (Brad Pitt), a former Major League Baseball player who tries to redeem himself as manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball in the early 2000.

Not only does he works in a tough sport business environment but he also needs to exorcise his demons: when he was a youngster, he chose a sporting career - and failed at it - over a promising College education.

Unable to get the financial back up to compete with the best clubs and forced to trade his best three players, Beans is condemned to gamble or die. To achieve his goal, he is helped by a young economics graduate (Jonah Hill) who incarnates this other Billy he could have been, provided he had chosen a different path.

His readiness to do anything to win is equal to none: fits of anger, stubbornness, obsession with performance... Billy is as competitive as any professional sportsman can be and treats his staff and players like assets.

The system can't be changed so Billy decides to play it rough, starts replacing man by statistics and fires/trades at will.
Errors are paid cash. In such a risky gamble, there is no room for the weak. A quick meeting coldly brings the bad news to the player who must accept his fate and quickly leave. New team, new life. Career may be broken in the process but the ruthless management is all powerful.

When Hattenberg, the resuscitated batsman picked by Billy against his advisors' approval, is asked to come onto the pitch to save the days in the final match, he manages to make the difference in a typical Hollywoodian style (music, slow motion, exulting, crowd...) thus exorcising Billy's failed career at the same time. But it won't be enough as the film denies the dream to be fulfilled. The season's over and despite an impressive victory streak Beans failed... statistically. If the underdog can achieves a lot he just can't win in a unfair system.

In the end Moneyball is less an inspirational movie about underdogs struggling to compete with the bests than a tale about our obsession for winning.


Directed by Bennett Miller, Based on Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman