“Moneyball” doesn’t hit theaters nationwide until Sept. 23, but reviews are streaming in from those who have seen early previews. Almost everyone I’ve talked to who has seen the movie has given it a thumbs. Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers called it one of the best movies of the year, although Travers pretty much likes everything he sees. But here are two reviews to check out:
- Jon Weisman of the Dodger Thoughts blog called it a possible Oscar contender, writing, “In the end, I think ‘Moneyball’ is an important film for baseball fans. Whether you bought into the book or ignored it, ‘Moneyball’ was (next to angst over performance-enhancing drugs) the central conflict of baseball in the past decade. The film puts forth this debate in a richly entertaining way, making it clear why it was such a big deal without falsely overstating its legacy.”
- Keith Law, over on his personal blog, had the opposite reaction, with a succinct opinion that ‘Moneyball’ “is an absolute mess of a film, the type of muddled end product you’d expect from a project that took several years and went through multiple writers and directors. Even good performances by a cast of big names and some clever makeup work couldn’t save this movie, and if I hadn’t been planning to review it, I would have walked out.”
I look forward to seeing it. Even my wife says she can’t wait for the OPS monologue (as long as it’s delivered by Brad Pitt and not Jonah Hill). More on “Moneyball” — the movie, the book, Billy Beane — next week …
Other stuff
- One reason September is great: We get stories like Steve Delabar, a Mariners reliever who was working as a substitute teacher. In March. He’s gone from earning $75 a day to pitching in the major leagues in a few months. Be sure to check out Jim Caple’s column on great September stories.
- Blogfight: Should pitchers be allowed to win the MVP award?
- This was written before John Lackey’s so-so start this afternoon, but Chip Buck wonders if Lackey should be removed from the Red Sox rotation?
- Stephanie Liscio with some of the great Indians teams that never reached the World Series.
- Finally, be sure to check out the ESPN Insider series “Kiss ‘Em Goodbye.” A lot of good stuff here as various Insider folks analyze what wrong in 2011, and look ahead to each team’s prospects for 2012. So far, they’ve done: Mets, Nationals, Mariners, Cubs, Orioles, Marlins and Astros.
Check out the original source here.
