December 22, 2016
'Moneyball'
HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Chris Ryan to induct 'Moneyball' into the Sports Movie Hall of Fame. They cover the state of Brad Pitt's career, the past 20 years of sports movies, the making of 'Moneyball', their favorite moments from the film, and the future of sports movies.
Cast
Brad Pitt as Billy Beane
Jonah Hill as Peter Brand
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe
Robin Wright as Sharon
Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg
Directed by: Bennett Miller
Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian
Music by: Mychael Danna
Produced by: Brad Pitt
Notes
- This episode was part of the initial 'Sports movies Hall of Fame' test run of podcasts before The Rewatchables were officially launched in August 2017.
- Bill and CR agree this is the best sports movie of the 21st century, and possibly the most rewatchable sports movie ever made.
- The movie shares DNA with The Big Short – same kind of vibe of making complicated ideas accessible, really well written and acted.
- Brad Pitt lost the 2012 Best Actor Oscar to Jean Dujardin from The Artist. Other nominees were George Clooney (The Descendants), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and Demián Bichir (A Better Life).
Categories
Most re-watchable scene
- The 20-game win streak montage with Mychael Danna's gorgeous Philip Glass-influenced score, culminating in the team almost blowing the 11-0 lead, then Scott Hatteberg hitting the walk-off home run to make it 20 straight.
- Brad Pitt sitting alone in a dark, empty Oakland Coliseum, flipping a transistor radio on and off – "I don't want to watch anything else in the whole world."
- The daughter singing in the guitar store – "makes the whole movie" according to Bill.
Half-assed (internet) research
- The movie had a wild production history: Steve Zaillian wrote the original screenplay, then David Frankel was going to direct, then Steven Soderbergh came on and wanted to make a documentary-style hybrid with real players playing themselves.
- Sony had already spent $10 million before pulling the plug on Soderbergh's version.
- Brad Pitt loved the project and refused to let it die. Catherine Keener introduced Bennett Miller to Pitt, they clicked, and Sorkin came in for a rewrite.
- Sorkin and Zaillian then passed scripts back and forth – "two of the best writers we've had in the last 20 years."
- Paul DePodesta (the real person Jonah Hill's character is based on) took his name off the movie.
- Art Howe was pissed about Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal and the movie in general – felt they misrepresented his role in the team's decisions.
- The movie cost $50 million and was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture.
Apex Mountain
- Brad Pitt: Bill says this is "the best Brad Pitt movie" – his most purely entertaining, movie-star performance. Also a testament to his taste as a producer.
- Jonah Hill: The transition from 'Superbad' comedy guy to serious dramatic actor battling with Brad Pitt was a cool wrinkle in 2011.
Casting what-ifs
- Demetri Martin was originally cast as the Peter Brand/Paul DePodesta character before Jonah Hill replaced him.
- Steven Soderbergh was going to direct before Bennett Miller took over.
- David Frankel ('Wedding Crashers') was attached to direct even before Soderbergh.
- Bill thinks George Clooney could maybe have made it work. Maybe Leo DiCaprio, but Pitt nails the ex-athlete gait in a way they couldn't.
Who won the movie?
- Brad Pitt, unanimously. His movie star magnetism makes watching a guy flip a radio on and off somehow mesmerizing.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman's scenes with Pitt are described as "amazing" and "bonkers" – he played Art Howe as a combo of Scotty J from 'Boogie Nights' and the guy from 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Should Billy Beane have gone to the Red Sox? He stayed for family reasons, but didn't realize how replicable his ideas were – Theo Epstein was about to do the same thing with four times the payroll.
- Would Brad Pitt have been the greatest character actor of all time if he weren't so handsome?