Moneyball - 2011

Columbia Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Michael De Luca Productions

Directed by Bennett Miller

Cast:

• Billy Beane – Brad Pitt
• Peter Brand – Jonah Hill
• Art Howe – Phillip Seymour Hoffman
• Sharon – Robin Wright
• Casey Beane – Kerris Dorsey

Story: Based on the book “Moneyball, the Art of Winning an Unfair Game”, this film gives us insight into the predicament of Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland “A's”. In 2002, the A's are the lowest funded ball team in professional baseball, and they are about to lose their top three players to free agency. Billy Beane is at wits end, and is meeting with various ball clubs to arrange player trades when he runs into Peter Brand in a meeting with the Cleveland Indians. Brand is a young, rotund man just out of Yale with a degree in economics who has developed a system for analyzing player stats that goes against everything in use at the time. When Billy questions him on his methods, he sees a way to build a championship team without the huge contracts that are awarded to star players. Brand's method is simple, he looks at the probability that a player can get on base, and by doing so, increase the odds he will score. While Beane fails to get the Championship with the team he builds, they do succeed in winning 20 games in a row, a record never before achieved in professional baseball.

Review: Here is a sports film that talks about more than just the players. Brad Pitt gives us a stellar performance as Billy Beane, a General Manager who started out as a player who never reached his potential. He gives us not only insight into the professional life of Billy Beane, but the man himself. We learn he is divorced, involved in his daughter's life, and trying to remain civil with his ex's new partner. He has ideas that he can't support in the accepted method, but with his reputation, he has a lot of leeway with the owner, and when he discovers Phillip Brand (Jonah Hill), he sees a way to make the kind of team that has the potential to win a championship. Jonah Hill is excellent as Brand, developing his character from the fresh out of college statistician with little self confidence to the man who learns to accept the responsibilities of management. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is strong as Manager Art Howe, but I get the feeling there are missing scenes because we just don't get enough of him in the film. Kerris Dorsey is impressive in the role of Casey Beane, and also co-wrote the song “The Show” and performs it for us in a touching scene where Billy is buying his daughter a guitar. For baseball fans, this is a movie about a pivotal moment in baseball history. For Brad Pitt fans, this is a chance to see Brad in a role that doesn't involve spies, cons, wars, and explosions. For the rest of us, this is a film to watch and enjoy. Rated PG-13 for a few scenes with harsh language, I'd recommend it for the entire family. Collectible for sports fans and lovers of good “slice of life” films.

Driven - 2001

Franchise Pictures, Epsilon Motion Pictures, Trackform Film Productions

Directed by Renny Harlin

Cast:

• Joe Tanto - Sylvester Stallone
• Carl Henry – Burt Reynolds
• Jimmy Bly – Kip Pardue
• Lucretia Clan – Stacy Edwards
• Beau Brandenburg – Til Schweiger
• Cathy Heguy – Gina Gershon
• Sophia Simone – Estelle Warren
• Memo Moreno – Cristian de la Fuente
• Demille Bly – Robert Sean Leonard

Story: A hot, young race driver, Jimmy Bly, is losing his focus, and his teammate isn't listening to instructions. Carl Henry, the team owner, decides to bring back a former champion, Joe Tanto, he can control to help Jimmy back to his winning focus. This proves to be a daunting task. Jimmy has an overbearing older brother and manager, Demille, who constantly presses him to do publicity and other things. Jimmy has also befriended the estranged fiance, Sophia, of Beau Brandenburg, the current world champion. Add the insular attitude of Demille, and toss in an embedded reporter, Luc, a former girlfriend, Cathy, and the replaced driver, Memo, and you have a plethora of problems besetting the young Jimmy and everyone involved. Tempers flare, feelings are involved, and everyone is tossing in their two cents. In the end, it is life representing art, and there is little to do but live on.

Review: Not one of Stallone's best films, but certainly not his worst (anyone remember Oscar?). The problem with this film is focus. Too many chiefs and not enough indians, too little focus on the characters, questionable racing scenes that focus little on actual racing (which would seem to be a little important when making a film about racing). Take your pick. Stallone comes off too “Rocky” in many scenes, although his brief scenes with the lovely Stacy Edwards are well done. Burt Reynolds plays the role of the hardcore team owner without once cracking his signature smile, which is not only disappointing, but disheartening. Til Schweiger discussing emotions with Stallone? In real life, perhaps, but as two tough guys and champions having a tea and sympathy moment? It just doesn't work. Estelle Warren as a love interest works, with her lithe and lovely manners and obvious beauty, but her emotional level doesn't rise to the part. Perhaps the most unbelievable scene in the film is the emotional moment when Kip Pardue and Sly are racing about the city of Chicago in two experimental cars, violating every traffic law on the books, and endangering hundreds of lives, and yet receive no more than a $25,000.00 fine and no suspensions. In all, the characters are two dimensional at best, superficial at worst, and the film is a waste of just under two hours of your precious time. Rated PG, not collectible, and certainly not one to rent unless you enjoy being bored.

Necessary Roughness - 1991

Paramount Pictures

Directed by Stan Dragoti

Cast:

• Paul Blake – Scott Bakula
• Coach Ed Generro – Hector Elizondo
• Coach Wally Rig – Robert Loggia
• Dr. Suzanne Carter – Harley Jane Kozak
• Dean Phillip Elias – Larry Miller
• Professor Andre Krimm - Sinbad
• Dean Carver Purcell – Fred Dalton Thompson
• Jarvis Edison – Jason Bateman
• Lucy Draper – Kathy Ireland

Story:Ooops. The team and coaches of Texas State University are sanctioned by the NCAA, and the school is forced to recruit a football team from actual students in order to play. Ed “Straight Arrow” Generro is hired to coach and recruit his team. He brings in Wally Rig as his defensive coach, and starts to recruit students. But Dean Elias sees this as an opportunity to eliminate football from the curriculum forever, and sets about trying to sabotage the team academically. Meanwhile, Coach Rig has a brilliant idea. He recruits Paul Blake, a former high school quarterback who was set to play for Penn State when his father passed away and he had to take over the family farm. Blake is in his thirties, but his curiosity to know if he can still play draws him back into the game and he enrolls to play. All sorts of things emerge. Blake's journalism professor, Dr. Carter, was a cheerleader who had a major crush on Paul in high school. Blake's science professor, Andre Krimm, was a former football player who dropped out of football to pursue his career in science and still has eligibility left. In need of a kicker, they recruit a soccer player, Lucy Draper, who is anything but male. While they fail to win all their games, they prove that honesty and college football can go hand in hand.

Review: So why review a 21 year old movie? Easy. Good movies have no expiration date, and this is certainly one of them. At the time, the NCAA was going through all sorts of problems with player bribes, payoffs, faked grades, violations from steroids to hookers to cars for the players. This movie was brave enough to face these problems and gives an accurate picture of trying to build a football team from a bunch of wanna be's and never were's. Scott Bakula is perfect in the role, neither attempting to affect a fake Texas drawl nor over playing the role. Hector Elizondo and Robert Loggia, two veteran actors who could easily dominate the film, instead add their considerable talents to make the film believable. Several great touches are added, including Rob Schneider as the announcer for the games, and the appearance of a prison team arranged by Dean Elias (Larry Miller, the schmuck you love to hate) adds an extreme and interesting comic scene. Dick Butkus, Earl Campbell, Roger Craig, Ben Davidson, Tony Dorsett, Evander Holyfield, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Jim Kelly, Jerry Rice, Herschel Walker, and Randy White are the prison football players. The film is cohesive, the language is minimal, and the violence is limited to the football field, practice, and a slight altercation between two teams at Billy Bob's. Collectible if you are a fan of good sports movies, and definitely a great film for the family on a Saturday night.