The first trailer for Moneyball, adapted from “Blind Side” author Michael Lewis’s nonfiction book of the same name, has arrived online, and from what I see, it looks a little schmaltzy and a lot more jokey than I expected. And jokes like “Who’s Fabio?” really fall flat if you ask me.
Yet, the talent behind this one is too good to ignore with Capote director Bennett Miller at the helm and a cast that includes Brad Pitt, Kathryn Morris, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright doesn’t hurt either. I also think this trailer is cut to sell the masses on a kitschy kind of film starring Brad Pitt rather than push any kind of real drama. I can’t fault ’em on that, the studio has got to try and turn a profit.
So check out the trailer below and leave your thoughts in the comments. Moneyball begins its Oscar push on September 23, which is to say just in time to premiere in Toronto should Columbia get the urge.
Based on a true story, Moneyball is a movie for anybody who has ever dreamed of taking on the system. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball’s conventional wisdom is wrong. Forced to reinvent his team on a tight budget, Beane will have to outsmart the richer clubs. The onetime jock teams with Ivy League grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) in an unlikely partnership, recruiting bargain players that the scouts call flawed, but all of whom have an ability to get on base, score runs, and win games. It’s more than baseball, it’s a revolution – one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the crosshairs of those who say he’s tearing out the heart and soul of the game.
