Heading into the 2002 baseball season, Billy Beane seems to face an impossible situation. His Oakland Athletics team has just lost its three biggest stars, and with one of the lowest salary budgets in the Major Leagues, he has very little hope of bringing in new stars to replace them.
Beane's solution is to embrace a new approach to choosing his team: sabermetrics. This involves going against many of the core beliefs and traditions of player scouting and selection, bringing a storm of criticism and acrimony. But Beane is determined to press on, reasoning that it is pointless to follow the same old rules when the financial deck is so stacked against him.
Obviously, the strategy works. If you follow baseball at all, you know that. Even if you don't, you can probably guess that there would not be a film if Beane's strategy failed!
But the point of this film is not ever 'will it work?', so it hardly matters that you know the final destination. The journey is the point here, and it's a good one, with fine performances from the cast to aid the emotional engagement.
Whether you care about baseball or not, Moneyball's 'feisty little guy' narrative should suck you in and deliver an entertaining and engaging two hours.
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