Updates:A Quick Moneyball Review

A Quick Moneyball Review:Took my boy to Moneyball this afternoon, after a long morning at the Medi Center. He jammed his wrist into the ground playing football at school yesterday and it wasn't feeling any better this morning and there was some swelling. The doctor figured it was a 'green stick fracture', but after x-rays he said it is just a soft tissue injury. He'll be fine, but won't be playing hockey for a few days.On paper, "Moneyball" is a movie that sells itself. It's based on a best-selling book about our national pastime, the screenplay for which was adapted by Oscar winners Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, and it stars Brad Pitt, in all his handsome, charming splendor, as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane. Throw in a killer supporting cast that includes Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and several real-life ball players, and you've got the makings of a hit. With a 94 percent certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Moneyball" seems to be a solid winner with critics. So take an early seventh-inning stretch and settle in for some sports clichés as we sort through the "Moneyball" reviews!
The Story"A sports-centric come-from-behind drama that harbors profound truths under its self-effacing grin of an exterior, 'Moneyball' is a movie of such loping, unforced ease and solid entertainment value that it's easy to take its gifts for granted. [Director Bennett] Miller barely puts a foot wrong in bringing to life the tale of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, who in 2002 — competing against teams with three times his payroll — sought to rebuild the slumping A's and revolutionize baseball recruiting using 'Sabermetrics,' a system by which players are chosen based on who gets on base most often. That approach sounds so simple as to be self-evident. But in 'Moneyball,' such logic runs afoul of Beane's old-school scouts, who are played in the movie by a colorfully grizzled collection of character actors and some real-life baseball veterans. Their banter, in which they refer to players' jaw lines and girlfriends while they decide whom to hire, lends 'Moneyball' a thoroughly enjoyable through-line of tough, vernacular wit. What's more, that plain-spoken charm couches a far deeper conceptual point: that objective truth not only exists but matters, even at a time when it's continually being trumped by superstition, 'feelings' and irrational belief." — Ann Hornaday, The Washington PostThe Brad Pitt Factor"If Pitt's role in 'Moneyball' is more of a conventional star turn than his career-shifting performance as the stern 1950s father in 'The Tree of Life' (for which he emphatically deserves awards but won't win any), it's still terrific.