A FEELGOOD TRUE STORY : "MONEYBALL"

I am, as I write this entry (though probably not as you read it, if you get what I mean) back in my home country for a well-earned Easter break. Back home for Easter means, as we all pretty much know, spending time with the family and doing all those things we miss doing together. For me and Mom this is, specifically, shopping for DVDs. As we wondered down the aisles of the DVD store, desperately trying to limit our selection Mom actually pounced on this. “Oh look, this was an Oscar® film. And there’s Brad Pitt in it, I like him.” Pretty much a keeper. I silently questioned the wisdom of buying a film about a sport I know categorically nothing about, but the whole point of the exercise was to spend time together so I didn’t go all film theory on her. Thus when we sat down to watch the film, I had literally no expectations from it other than providing an excuse for me and Mom to exchange opinions concerning Brad Pitt. Now, up to a point, I wasn’t that wrong. There were bits of the film I understood categorically nothing about. But I don’t blame the film for that if you see what I mean, for a sports film to be a sports film there has to be a goodly amount of sports in it, I can accept that. The important bit is, however, that there was a large and emotionally engaging bit that I did understand, and here is a summary of that bit: Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. It is not a job to be envied. The team is literally the bottom of the pile with very little in the way of funds and a whole set of scouts and managers whose opinions date from the previous century. The way things are going, the team is pretty much two steps away from being wiped off the map. And things seem pretty much set to go as they always have, that is in everyone’s opinion except Billy’s. Billy is a high-school graduate who has worked on nothing but baseball, but unlike the rest of the managerial team, he can spot a good idea when he sees it. And the good idea comes in the form of 25 year-old Yale graduate Peter Brand. Peter has some pretty interesting ideas as to how he and Billy can turn the Athletics around. If they can get literally everyone else to act on their ideas that is… They will, as we now know, end up changing baseball as we know it… Now what, I hear you ask, differentiates this film from your common or garden “one man against the system” film. Well, in my opinion it’s its realism and honesty. I mean, yes, the film is based on a true story. But you have true stories and true stories right, and then you have padding to make the characters look good. Not so here. Beane’s flaws and his erroneous decisions are openly portrayed here. Pitt gives Beane a certain quiet, yet dogged and determined character, the Beane Pitt portrays is not a man of many words, but once he is on to something he is not going to let go of it, pretty much like a “terrier on a trouser leg”. Then there is the unlikely team they bring together. You cannot help feeling for the guys, I don’t want to give too much of the plot away but hey, they are a minor team with not much money, you can imagine what kind of players they can afford – though mind you, there is a lot of method in their perceived madness. I am so glad that Hollywood, in some cases anyway, can give all we love about Hollywood (a good, uplifting story, big name stars like Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffmann who plays one of the biggest obstacles in Beane’s path) without actually whitewashing the place. If you see what I mean. Like I said, my lack of knowledge concerning baseball was more than a bit of a hindrance, but the producers had obviously thought of that because I could follow the plot even if I didn’t know the intricate technicalities of the matter. So I say go for it. Even if you don’t particularly like baseball. And definitely go for it if you do like it…

NOT AN AVERAGE FLOWER - MAGNOLIA

Magnolia is just “one of those films”. It has to be actually seen to be understood. “You have to have been there.” I watched it – and loved it - which was good, because I sat down to it with high hopes of adding it to my blog. (It’s so disappointing when you sit down to a film and go “Oooh, now, I wonder if this will make it to the blog?” and then fall asleep half way through…) I have decided long ago that I will only add the films I myself enjoyed – that was the point of the website. There are of course a lot of films I watch and get bored witless – I do watch films for a living you know – but this was never the point. I seem, however, to be getting a little off topic. Let’s get back to Magnolia and the critique thereof…

Now, what of the story? This is a story about choices and life, and how we are all a lot more connected than we might first think… Earl Partrdige (Jason Robards) is dying of cancer. His young wife Claudia (Julianne Moore) and Phil (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are caring for him. Earl’s dying wish is to make contact with his estranged son, Jack (Tom Cruise). Jack however, is now a self-help guru and wants nothing to do with his father… Jimmy Gator – a TV host - is also dying of cancer… He has not led a model life and wants to reconcile with his daughter before it’s too late. His daughter is a depressed cocaine addict and wants nothing to do with her father. In the meanwhile, the current and past child prodigies of Gator’s TV show are both facing battles of their own…

If that sounds complicated it is a bit. But unconnected ? No. This is a supremely intelligent film about life, the choices we make and how much the “little” things count… There are many scenes that will move you to the marrow of your bones and many that will fascinate you – but the whole story is so cleverly woven I couldn’t possibly “take a piece out” to show to you without “knocking the rest over”…Technically speaking it’s a very fast paced film. The story goes quickly from time to time and so does the editing. I’m kinda used to this kind of thing and it was ok but you might find it a touch difficult to follow at first, so choose a calm day for it. Another thing : The cast. I mean, who isn’t in the film?! Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Julianne Moore, double Oscar®winner Jason Robards, William H. Macey… And the film is an Oscar ® nominee to boot – Best Original Screenplay, Best Muisc and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Tom Cruise. Lastly, please don’t let the fact that the film is three hours long “upset” you. I would like to remind you at this point that “The Godfather” is just as long and an absolute and utter cult classic ;)

A TRIP BACK IN TIME – TO THE BOAT THAT ROCKED!

The Boat That Rocked is one of the newest creations of the team that brought us such classics as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Noting Hill. And although it is a “fun” film in many ways it definitely lacks the star quality of its more famous siblings.
Not that the film is lacking in stars, in more senses than one : Phlip Seymour-Hoffman gives a superb performance as the inevitable “Brash American” set among “The Brits” without being in the least bit cliché or annoying ( or at least annoyingly cliché) Bill Nighy is your typical “Brit on the ocean waves” with just the right Bohemian overtones, Rhys Ifans is… Well no other word for it absolutely “yummy” as Gavin and Tom Sturrdige is the perfect “naïve young beau”
Reading back on my previous paragraph I find that I seem to have hinted at what I find “wrong” with the film – it’s a cliché. Although it starts on a very interesting point – history of Pirate Radio Broadcasting in the U.K (a concept I was not personally aware of incidentally) and in the meanwhile offers an absolutely wonderfully nostalgic soundtrack of 60’s rock and pop classics, the actual storyline itself is nothing new. Young beau arrives among rebels. Defies authority bravely. Succeeds at last minute where all seems to be failing terribly. Gets girl in the end. * Yawn*.
But, as can be expected from the team that creates such classics – and such great actors - the film has a saving grace apart from its soundtrack (that is so good it deserves a second mention). It’s funny. It does, I have to stay, stray once or twice into a realm the American Pie franchise has exploited in my opinion once too often but other than that it is embarrassingly Britishly, wonderfully funny. I gurantee you an entertaining and depending on your generation VERY nostalgic couple of hours if you make the time to watch it. Just don’t expect it to change your world. Or stick in your mind for more than 2 days…