1) The A's owner is played by Bobby Kottick, CEO of Activision. I used to cover that company in my equity research days. I even met him. It's really weird to see someone you've met in a movie. This is especially true when they're acting but in real life they have a corporate non-acting job. Kinda threw me for a loop. I thought for a second he was going to talk about gross margin expansion or sales of Call of Duty. Weird.
2) Brad Pitt is just an OK actor. He gets the job done, but he never really let's you forget he's acting. When I told this to my wife, she didn't look away from the screen and just mumbled "um, wha?...."
3) Why do you own a pro team and not be willing to lose money (at least initially) for it? At the beginning, the owner tells Beane he won't raise the payroll, which is 1/4 the Yankees. I understand not wanting to lose money in business, but this is not just a business. It's sports. If you wanna ensure you're always cash flow positive, go buy a laundromat. In sports you're supposed to try your best to win. Letting parasites like this owner into MLB is another reason to hate Bud Selig.
4) Jonah Hill can act. I didn't know this.
5) It's clear to me now that my biggest mistake was not getting a job in baseball. The whole time I watched the movie I was thinking how much I wished I worked in baseball. Damn it!
2 comments:
Man, I thought Pitt was great in this. And I typically hate him.
They did a good job with the 20-win excitement. Even Giants fans might find that section of the film compelling (harhar). That final game of the streak remains the single most thrilling game I've ever watched, so it was nice to relive that via dramatization. Sure ain't happening on the field any time soon.
It was really well done- If you block out all the reality problems, it's a very entertaining film, and Pitt is more Beane than Pitt is usually anyone. He didn't bother me at all. Jonah Hill is more funny in an understated role than he is as a manic fat man.
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