Isle of Man Movie Review: 'Moneyball'

If you missed the first few movie reviews that I've done, you may be wondering why I'm a reviewing a film that has been out of the theaters for quite a while now.

To briefly summarize: I don't like going to the movie theater. Truthfully, I'm not crazy about going out anywhere if it can be helped.

Call it "social anxiety." Maybe I'm just a jerk. Both are options that I'm willing to explore (or have explored on my behalf).

Either way, I'd rather stay home, sit on my couch and watch movies on my big LCD TV. I don't have to deal with people doing "play-by-play." There are no small children testing the boundaries of my patience. I can pause it whenever I want. 

There are very few movies that can get me to leave the comforts of my cave. This year, "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight Rises" will cause this to occur. I'll also probably go out and see "The Hobbit" when it comes out later in 2012.   

So that's why I only recently saw "Moneyball." Here's what I thought of it:

First off, I always like it when a sports movie is based on a true story. It tells me, in advance, that no matter how cheesy the storyline may appear, it really happened. 

This was good to know, because, honestly, this movie was kind of like "The Mighty Ducks" for grown-ups. A lot of it would be a tough sell if it didn't really happen.

But it did.

If you like a good underdog story, you will like this movie.

The film is based on the book with the same name, penned by author Michael Lewis. The book and film detail the story of Billy Beane, the General Manager for the small market Oakland Athletics, who, with the help of a close adviser, developed a system that gave the "little guy" a chance to compete in the big Major League Baseball market and forever changed the way that professional sports franchises will choose their personnel.

The film stars Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, who you wouldn't figure for a serious actor, but you might have him all wrong.

Hill stole the show in many of the scenes and, in my opinion, proved that he is capable of doing more than just movies about smoking pot and dirty jokes.

I watched this movie with my wife. She doesn't generally enjoy sports movies. She loved "Moneyball." Your wife will too.

I don't have kids, but I feel conflicted on whether or not I'd let them watch this movie. While it has a storyline they'd enjoy, no nudity or sexuality and no violence of any kind, it did have a little bit of language. Though it's rated "PG-13," I was surprised to find the use of two "F-words." The "S-word" was used eight times, which I also found to be a bit excessive for a "PG-13" movie.

Personally, swearing in movies rarely bothers me. I'm a heathen. I know. That said, if it bothers you, or you don't want your kids to hear it, then you may wanna skip this one.

Overall, I liked this movie a lot. I'd watch it again multiple times. I don't have any kind of rating system that involves thumbs or tomatoes, but if I did, this movie would get three thumbs and four tomatoes. I don't know what that means, so don't ask me.

Did you see "Moneyball?" What did you think?