Parents' Guide to

Moneyball

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Fantastic, inspiring baseball drama covers all its bases.

Movie PG-13 2011 126 minutes
Moneyball Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 12 parent reviews

ahmed aiman 99
ahmed aiman 99 Adult
August 16, 2018
age 8+

It's Hard Not To Be Romantic About Baseball!

I'm not a fan of Baseball. Actually, I don't even know anything about this game. I'm also not a big fan of Sports movies in general. Also, this movie has a generic story that could have easily made Moneyball already dated. That's why I putted this movie off for a very long time, and I really regret doing that. Director Bennett Miller, along with screenwriters, Steven Zaillian, and Aaron Sorkin took a story that sounds uninteresting and turned it into an enjoyable movie that is funny, intense, and very touching in equal measure. I didn't know that Aaron Sorkin co-wrote the script but I felt his touches while watching the movie till I became completely sure that he co-wrote its script even before I check that out. The dialogue is so smart and sharp, and Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill were both great, especially Brad Pitt, and they had an incredible chemistry that made the dialogue even more captivating. Let's face it, no director-screenwriter collaboration can beat Fincher-Sorkin's one. But that , by no means, means that Bennett Miller didn't do a great job directing this movie. Besides the fact that he made a very good-looking movie, he captured some truly magical cinematic moments that can stick in my head for a very long time. A very long sequence near the end, in particular, that is about ten minutes is easily one of the most riveting and gripping sequences I've ever watched. I was literally on the edge of my seat sweating, and putting my hands on head. It was really stressful and exhausting to watch. Also, the moments Billy Beane, Pitt's character, has with his daughter are just delightful to watch. Nevertheless, Moneyball's problem, IMO, is that it's a bit boring! Its runtime is 133 min, and the movie definitely could have been way shorter. The problem is that there is too much talk that I really wasn't interested in, and most importantly, didn't need to. The movie lost me sometimes at the middle and the very end. Billy Beane is a well-written and grounded character that brought to life by Brad Pitt's Oscar-nominated performance. It had a lot of development, and it was a very interesting character. That being said, I felt that his backstory isn't complete. I think it was interesting at the beginning, but then the movie just ignored his past. As a result, I felt like there was something is missing in this character. The movie actually did keep advancing his backstory forward in a way that connect very well with the ongoing events of the movie, but that, unfortunately, didn't happen after the first act anymore. Overall, I loved Moneyball so much, and enjoyed watching it quiet a bit, and I didn't even think that I was going to like it. (8/10)
larendexter
larendexter Parent of 10-year-old
August 15, 2022
age 9+

Best baseball movie ever

All appropriate but 2 f bombs slipped past MPAA, should be rated R but appropriate for 9 year olds
See all 12 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Based on the best-selling nonfiction book by Michael Lewis, MONEYBALL tells the story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the Oakland A's general manager and once-promising professional ball player who refashioned baseball by trusting statistical analysis as much as, if not more than, traditional recruitment methods. He makes this bold and controversial move with the help of a twentysomething Yale-educated statistics expert, Peter (Jonah Hill) -- and encounters plenty of loud critics. Even the coach (Philip Seymour Hoffman) isn't on board. But with larger, deeper-pocketed clubs like the Yankees able to poach the biggest talents from the A's and elsewhere, there aren't that many other alternatives for finding untapped, affordable talent. Can Beane swing for the fences?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (12 ):
Kids say (40 ):

Except for a final scene that verges on maudlin (but is admittedly still quite sweet), Moneyball is pretty much a perfect baseball movie. It emulates the sport it centers on in its unexpected rhythms -- taking its time to reveal the plot in some stretches, rapidly picking up the pace and tension, bases loaded-style, in others -- and reminds us why the game is so beloved. There's little gimmickry here, just confident storytelling and a script that ekes out the dramatic arc in Beane's trailblazing approach and turns it into great material.

Pitt is as good as he gets here, and that's very good. Like a star athlete, he knows precisely when to hold back and when to go for it. It's a grand slam of a performance. Ditto Hill, who abandons his stoner persona and turns in a convincing portrayal of an economics major who finds his place in baseball. Moneyball succeeds because it doesn't relegate its biggest moments to the action on the field -- we've seen that before -- but focuses instead on a quiet revolution that remade America's pastime. Who knew statistics could be this cinematically engrossing?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's message. How do you know how far to take an idea or plan that you believe in? Is there a way to know for sure whether an idea is a good one?

  • What is the movie saying about the world of professional baseball? What are the motivations of the owners? What about the managers and players?

  • How does the movie portray technology? Do you think statistics are the best way to find talented athletes? Or are there other factors that coaches should consider?

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