THE REWATCHABLES · December 29, 2016
A 2011 sports / drama directed by Bennett Miller, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
The film’s opening establishes the payroll gap and pits Pitt alone in the stadium against the inevitability of the Yankees.
Opening minutesOffice confrontations show Beane’s anger at old baseball thinking and the scouts’ resistance to analytics.
About 32 minThe film turns advanced stats into clear dialogue for a mainstream audience.
About 8 minA tense trade negotiation scene becomes a study in office maneuvering and front-office power.
About 16 minThe father-daughter store scene provides the film’s emotional pivot.
About 32 minThe montage and Hatteberg home run deliver the movie’s biggest payoff.
About 16 minThe Red Sox material provides a second ending but stretches realism more than the rest of the film.
About 16 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsSays Moneyball is probably the best sports movie of the 21st century and certainly the most rewatchable.
Chris RyanAgrees and says it is the best sports movie of the century.
Bill SimmonsBelieves the dramatization is forgivable because the movie works and baseball fans should move on.
Chris RyanAcknowledges accuracy concerns but focuses on the film’s bigger thematic achievement.
Bill SimmonsThinks the movie intentionally offensive to scouts but dramatically effective.
Chris RyanRaises the question of whether the portrayal is offensive to scouts.
Bill SimmonsArgues Pitt should have won and is baffled that The Artist prevailed.
Chris RyanShares the disbelief at the result.
Calls it probably the best sports movie of the 21st century and one of the most rewatchable movies overall.
Opening minutesSays Creed has a chance to join the rewatchable sports-movie canon but is not yet at Moneyball’s level.
Opening minutesArgues Pitt’s magnetism is essential to the film and that lesser actors could not make the radio-flipping opening scene work the same way.
About 8 minLikes how Hill explains analytics clearly to non-experts while keeping the movie entertaining.
About 8 minTreats the father-daughter guitar moment as one of the movie’s most effective emotional scenes.
About 32 minCalls the late-game sequence a true chill scene and a key rewatchable payoff.
About 16 minEnjoys Hoffman’s performance as a strange, layered, highly watchable manager.
About 16 minFinds the scout characterizations intentionally outdated and insulting but effective.
About 32 minAccepts the factual liberties as long as the movie works emotionally and dramatically.
About 24 minArgues Pitt overachieved as a movie star relative to his pure acting gifts by leaning into charisma and pairing well with other actors.
About 40 minSees it as Moneyball’s spiritual successor in explaining a complex system to a mass audience.
About 32 minUses it as a contrast example of an awards movie he would never want to rewatch.
About 48 minThe central idea is that the film is about trying a different way to run a baseball team and challenging how sports are traditionally understood.
About 8 minThe film breaks down a complicated analytics concept for a broad audience without becoming inaccessible.
About 8 minThe Pitt-Hill relationship gives the movie momentum and emotional clarity.
About 24 minThe daughter subplot gives Billy Beane an emotional layer beyond baseball.
About 32 minThe episode places Moneyball in a larger history of sports movies and sports strategy becoming more niche and more data-driven.
Opening minutesAn early version of Moneyball was planned as a more documentary-like hybrid with real people playing themselves.
About 8 minSoderbergh was reportedly deep into prep and had about $10 million sunk into the project before leaving.
About 8 minBrad Pitt was originally attached with Demetri Martin as the Paul DePodesta character.
About 8 minJonah Hill’s character is based on Paul DePodesta, who reportedly took his name off the movie.
About 8 minThe film uses several real baseball figures and teams from the 2001-2002 A’s/Yankees era.
Opening minutesThe episode treats the 20-game win streak and Hatteberg’s homer as the film’s biggest payoff.
About 16 minBill mentions talking with Sean about rewatchability on The Watch.
Opening minutesUsed as a comparison for a movie that is expert enough to feel cool but still understandable.
About 8 minReferenced as an early example of a sports-business movie.
Opening minutesUsed as an example of a later, more specific sports movie style.
Opening minutesMentioned as a sports-business movie whose realism bothered Bill more than Moneyball did.
About 16 minUsed to describe how experts react when fiction gets technical details wrong.
About 16 minUsed as a comparison for predictable but emotionally strong sports storytelling.
Opening minutesCited as an example of Pitt simply being a movie star.
About 8 minReferenced as one of Pitt’s definitive early performances.
About 40 minMentioned as a major Pitt role and as a cable staple that has not aged as expected in their view.
About 40 minCited as a spiritual successor to Moneyball in explaining complex systems to a general audience.
About 32 minUsed as an example of a sports story that might work better as a documentary today.
About 40 minReferenced as the film that won the Oscar over Pitt.
About 40 minUsed in a discussion of Pitt’s less effective serious roles.
About 40 minCited as the film that reinvented Woody Harrelson’s career.
About 48 minThey laugh about how each says niche differently and joke about being bad pronouncers.
Opening minutesThey repeatedly imitate front-office calls and office logistics as if they are part of the movie’s comedy.
About 16 minThey keep returning to the idea that Pitt can succeed simply by being a charismatic star on camera.
About 8 minThey discuss the idea that great sports movies need one moment that gives chills and justifies rewatches.
About 16 minThey spend a long stretch ranking Pitt’s career and debating whether he overachieved or underachieved.
About 40 min“the best sports movie of the 21st century”Opening minutes
“buy wins. In order to buy wins”About 8 min
“his dick has already been there”About 32 min
“You can't win! You cannot lose.”About 48 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Moneyball, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Chris RyanThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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