Moneyball

Moneyball is everything a true sports fan could hope for. What I mean is that there aren't any glorified scenes of heroics, or miracle last second shots. What there is plenty of however, are statistics. Lines and lines of statistics. It's a bit unfair to an uninitiated fantasy sports fan, but the basic idea is that an innovative general manager uses his Yale economics graduate sidekick and turns the way that owners assemble teams upside down, building a winning team with a low salary.

Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland A's, with a swagger and levity that really makes the game fun again. He's a man haunted by the mistakes of his past, desperately searching for his love of the game. Hellbent on winning, but limited by his owner's shallow pockets, he tries a new strategy aptly dubbed "Moneyball". It's the idea that professional sports have become more business and less heart. That the team with the most stars wins. It's a philosophy commonly accepted among all of the major sports leagues, and incidentally is the reason for salary caps despite monstrous profits.

The problem is that the small market teams such as Oakland just can't keep up. That's where Beane and his new assistant GM, Peter Brandt (played remarkably by Jonah Hill in a rare dramatic role) come in. they analyze what it is that makes wins, and come up with a formula for success that they try to put into play.

The manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) isn't impressed, and reverts to his tried and true managing ways, as do the advisers and the scouts. But in a series of events, the 2002 season unfolds like a magical tale straight out of fiction. What Beane did changed sports forever.

This film may not have been made with the intent of garnering Oscar nominations, but it most certainly will get them. This is the best baseball film ever made. No offense to Kevin Costner, but Brad Pitt takes Billy Beane and makes him sincerely lovable. He's the Oceans 11 Pitt, but with responsibility and scruples. Just the cool Brad Pitt that's been missing for a few years.

The authenticity of players, statistics, wins and losses, and dollar amounts adds dramatic credibility, but also ensures that you never actually question how likely any of the events are. It's a testament to the men behind the scenes (no offense ladies) who make professional sports go around.

The introspective look at Billy Beane is a metaphor that goes beyond the game of baseball, or professional sports. It's how a kids game can transcend youth and have such an effect on adults of all ages and backgrounds. Pitt conveys the love effortlessly with his eyes, and his playful smile. There isn't a man alive who can't relate to that longing, sentimental love of a sport.

Sports films usually miss the mark on one of five areas: empathetic characters, heartwarming story, believability, likeability, and action. Moneyball hits the mark. Director Bennett Miller is a relative novice, with just Capote on his resume. He will earn his second Oscar nomination for this, a beacon in a season typically crowded with serious, and sometimes dark films. Moneyball is this year's Social Network. A warm, smart drama with no agenda besides sharing a fascinating story.

Moneyball is a must-see for any film fan. The best baseball film of all time, and one of the better sports-themed movies. Brad Pitt receives another Oscar nomination, and the film stands at the end of the year as one of the top five. The only concern is its early release. Often September films can get lost in the buzz of the November/December fare. For my money, it's incredible. 9/10.

Drive

Ryan Gosling channels his inner De Niro as "Kid" or just "Driver" in this stylish, subtle homage to Taxi Driver by Danish New Yorker Nicolas Winding Refn. Refn is hot on the Indy scene right now, and his best picture to date is 2008's Bronson, starring a budding Tom Hardy as the enigmatic and notorious prisoner.

Drive seems like it is cut right out of the 80's, with the neon pink credits, and the hyperactive techno soundtrack. There is something a bit too cool though, and Gosling knows it. He's become an indy film stalwart, stepping outside his normal comfort zone earlier this year with Crazy, Stupid, Love and the upcoming Oscar bait Ides of March. This must have been a pet project for him, and it is a much more turbulent film than you would expect.

We are introduced to the Kid (Cormac McCarthy envy?) as he is working. He has a hard and fast set of rules as a getaway driver; 5 minutes, walk away when done, and he doesn't carry a gun. The opening sequence is a suspenseful cat and mouse sequence masterfully played without music. Just the sound of the police scanner, and the stoic look of the driver's eyes planning the escape route in his mind.

Fast forward to the next day at his day job, where he is a stunt driver for Hollywood movies, and a mechanic at a greasy shop in a shady part of Los Angeles. This begins the unraveling of the fiber of this character. He is loyal to his boss, the well-cast Bryan Cranston, but seems to be slumming with regard to his potential, his skills, and his suave, silent, confident demeanor. It just doesn't feel right from the get-go.

He befriends his neighbor, and dances with sexual tension, but there is never really any chance of them being together, because she is married and her husband is just about to get out of prison. He falls in love with her and her son, and has to step in when an opportunity arises to help them out.

Things spiral out of control, and a shocking, yet not altogether unexpected bloodbath ensues, from which Driver (or Kid) must fight to the death to escape the clutches of an organized crime duo played wonderfully by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman (truly underrated, with his fat sausage fingers, and his enormous face).

Gosling picked an odd project here. My first problem is that the main character is unbelievable. The second is that once the carnage ensues, it is entirely too gratuitous. Much like the shock value of Taxi Driver's over the top bloodfest, Drive has a couple of sequences that go down a dark path that would be better ignored.

The driving scenes are incredible and just brief enough to hold your attention. They aren't drawn out or glamorized to be anything special, but they showcase this young man's true talent, and to be honest, Gosling just looks cool with the leather driving gloves and the toothpick in his mouth.

The relationship between Gosling and Mulligan is genuine good acting, but the characters aren't in a position where it can survive. It's doomed from the start and so it's really just wasted emotion on screen.

I liked the vibe of this movie, but the psychotic, bloody turn just turned me off from the fun action suspense film I was hoping to enjoy. I continue to give Gosling credit for choosing projects that are way off the beaten path (Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine), and I would like to see him get a little more credit for it (Blue Valentine Oscar Nomination Snub). He does a great job, as do Cranston, Perlman, and Brooks. Mulligan is just a pretty face.

I wouldn't recommend seeing or not seeing it, but be prepared for a one-eighty about halfway through, and a completely different film during the second half. Refn just took it a bit too far. 6/10.

Warrior

At first glance, Warrior doesn't seem to be an inspirational sports film, which caught me off guard when I saw the first preview. I was dubious that a film centered around a combat sport touting less than an R rating could succeed. The story follows two brothers who each have their reasons for fighting, with a back story of estrangement from an abusive alcoholic father as well as each other.

Tommy (Tom Hardy) is the muscle. A brutish caveman who fits the part of a fighter perfectly. He is a man wearing his personal guilt and resentment like a scarlet letter, and his only release is to pummel whomever is in his way. He returns from Iraq and jumps back into training with his father (Nick Nolte) to whom he has a very rocky past.

Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is the family man. A high school physics teacher who sneaks around fighting for small purses in strip club parking lots, and telling his wife he is bouncing for extra money when he comes home battered and bruised.

A Grand Prix style fighting opportunity piques the interest of both men; for money and for honor, and they end up competing in the winner-takes-all iron man tournament, ultimately facing each other in the finals.

With a story of such preposterous and obvious emotional manipulation, Gavin O'Connor does a nice job evoking the Disney underdog story aura from the film. It is just family-friendly enough to pass as more Miracle than the Fighter, which is probably what the idea was going for. Unfortunately for the cast and crew, that means it's not going to win any awards this year.

The sport of MMA has grown to become one of the most popular and widely followed on the planet, and unlike more traditional sports like football or basketball, MMA is purely gladiatorial. One punch can win a fight, and there is a sense that anyone can win, because it is in many cases true.

O'Connor contrasts the two brothers' fighting styles against each other with much intention and thought; Tommy charging in like a bull, dipping his head down between his enormous neck muscles, swinging his fists wildly and forcefully, hoping to land that one punch that brings catharsis to his numb and tormented soul. Brendan is more finesse, cautiously waiting for an opportunity to shoot in and pull a submission move. These two styles are often discussed and lamented among the pantheon of fight fans, and to pit them against each other yields a predictable result (which I won't give away).

The relationship with Nick Nolte is heartfelt and painful to watch, and Nolte shines brightly as a lonely and remorseful man who can't quite escape the demons of his past. He finds some redemption in the form of the championship bout, but there is never quite closure to the story, although I don't suppose there ever really could be.

The film glosses over much of the periphery and hones in on the two men, which is a smart move. The fighting is intense and realistic, and Kurt Angle makes a nice yet slightly ironic appearance as the menacing Koba, a Russian beast who is undefeated, and is the hands down favorite to win the tournament.

Hardy and Edgerton do a great job in this, both physically, and portraying brothers with Philly accents despite being from England and Australia. Hardy is a little more Rocky than he needs to be, but it must have been a fun and demanding film to make.

At a time of year when summer action movies are dying down, this is just what I needed. A shot of adrenaline in the form of a Disney sports story (Lionsgate actually). It's a great film worth watching, and will make you cheer, whether you are rooting for Tommy or Brendan. 8/10.