"Moneyball": A movie Baseball fans will appreciate

On its surface, "Moneyball" looks like a story of David vs. Goliath, with the small market Oakland Athletics representing David, and big market teams like the New York Yankees representing Goliath.

But the real message lies in a quote said by Brad Pitt's Billy Beane at one point in the film: "Adapt or die"

Directed by David Bennett, and based on the 2003 bestseller Moneyball by Michael Lewis, the movie tells the story of the Oakland A's and general manager Billy Beane, and how they are forced to retool their roster after the 2001 season.

Beane is dealt some great hardships, as he loses three of his best players in free agency; Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen.

Given the A's small payroll, Beane knows he cannot rely on free agency to fix his problems, and he feels his scouts are stuck in the past, so he must find a different way of doing things.

There enters Peter Brand (portrayed by Jonah Hill), a graduate from Yale with a degree in economics. He tells Beane that he should not be buying "players," but rather "runs."

They in turn begin looking at players who are underappreciated and undervalued, which allows him to get them cheap.

The rest of the film deals with a counter-clash against Beane's approach, as he comes under fire from scouts, the media and his manager Art Howe (portrayed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman), for essentially trying to change the way the game is viewed.

Pitt does a terrific job portraying Beane, through all of his struggles, as he desperately wants his team to win, and knows he can't unless he does it his way. The film also does a good job of weaving in Billy Beane's back story as a former MLB player, and how traditional scouting's totally failure to properly judge his skills influenced his thought on scouts.

The film does a good job of pacing, and never feels bloated or over-dramatized. It also does a good job in not "Hollywood-izing" the film as there is no happy ending for Beane and the A's, as they lose in the first round of the playoffs, just like in 2001.

Of course, it was never meant to portray a happy ending. It was simply meant to show one GM and one small market team trying to survive in a sport dominated by large market teams.

Inevitably, baseball fans will appreciate this movie more than most. However, that does not mean it isn't a great movie, because it is, and I would recommend it for anyone.