MONEYBALL Movie Review

Overall MONEYBALL drew a bit more hype than it deserved, but it’s definitely worth a watch, especially if you happen to enjoy baseball or Brad Pitt.  Though it doesn’t compare to most inspirational sports movies like FIELD OF DREAMS, it does have mindful messages and inspirational themes. 

The film – another example of a live action drama showcasing true events - is more engaging and successful than any documentary could have been with the same story. Brad Pitt (“Billy Beane”) and Jonah Hill (“Peter Brand”) made a great pair. Refreshingly, Hill, who is known more for comedy, was excellent in a serious role. 

  In fact, Hill shines in the best scene of the movie which occurs towards the end of the film. In this exchange, Brand explains a baseball play to Beane that is a huge metaphor for life. I don’t want to ruin this scene if you haven’t seen the movie yet; but it hit me in a powerful way. It helped me to see that we all have limits to our thinking and to seeing ourselves as hugely successful.

Our fears and our blocks often get in the way of understanding the truth about ourselves.

One of the themes that I really enjoyed was Beane’s drive to make a profound and lasting impact on the sport.  He didn’t just want to win the last game of the season; he wanted to bring justice to a system he viewed as unfair because of money. 

I’ve been a big Yankees fan my entire life.  I remember going to games with my dad and brother as a kid, and I’ve held onto a deep sense of love and pride for the pinstripes.  I used to blindly defend them even when others would criticize them for monopolizing the sport.  Now I can see how unfair the system is and how the Yankees have been blessed with more prosperity. I feel like MONEYBALL helped me to see the truth about America’s favorite pastime.

It was also enlightening to see the power money has always had to buy talent, how some players are paid far more than they’re worth, and yet others are vastly underpaid. I couldn’t help but recognize the parallels to many corporations and high-level business executives. I loved that MONEYBALL showed us another way: a system that gives the underdogs a chance to shine. 

The formulas and numbers make sense in MONEYBALL, and yet this plan didn’t succeed at first.  I believe that the A’s consistently won because Beane, the GM, managed the team with care and creativity. The film portrays their turn-around as occurring when Beane took an interest in the players, and when he started to explain their statistics and encouraged Dave Justice (one of my all-time favorite players) to be a leader. It was clear to me that the attention and love was the changing force, not the mathematics.

It is the same in business. I found myself flourishing in my job when my boss coached me, and I noticed that when I mentored my staff, they were more willing to step up. It’s like Dr. Seuss says in THE LORAX, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

The theme of winning/losing and success/failure was evident in this film. It’s apparent that Beane’s flashbacks to his years as a player and his perceived failure, was a driving force for him to succeed as the GM of the Oakland A’s.  He saw an unfair system and realized there was another way.  He met Peter by chance, but he also recognized talent when he saw it and was willing to adopt a new perspective when all of baseball disagreed with him.

In fact, Beane’s persistence to be a changer-maker, even in the face of failure, was one of the most inspirational aspects of the film.  His ripple effect was significant as well since the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918 only two years after implementing his controversial approach to the game. 

SPOILER ALERT!  However, most inspiring of all was his decision to stay with the team that he loved rather than taking millions of dollars to move to the Red Sox. It was surprising to me that he would walk away from so much money and opportunity.  Yet if he left, he would have been no different than Giambi and Damon, two of his former players, if he too had jumped ship for a bigger paycheck. Billy’s decision to follow his heart demonstrated his integrity, his priorities and strength.

I admire Beane for his drive, his steadfast belief in his vision, and his courage to be an agent of change.  It’s not just sports, but all areas of our society that need these kinds of leaders who are ready to shake up the old systems that no longer work.  It is time to provide new opportunities for talent to shine and for outside-the-box thinkers to make positive, lasting changes, despite the status quo.  These leaders will rise in this new era of consciousness; we need to be ready for them.   

Thank you Billy Beane for trailblazing a new path, and for showing us that heart and connection are more powerful than money!

Entertain, Enlighten, Inspire,
Kate Neligan
Founder/CEO of Synergy TV & Mindful Media Entertainment