'Moneyball': Pitt hits this oneout of the park

Follow the money.

In the case of the sharp and savvy "Moneyball" it will get you to, surprisingly, baseball.

Sporting, by far, the best performance of Brad Pitt's checkered career, "Moneyball" echoes "The Social Network" with its smart, rapid-fire dialogue as Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane wheels and deals to buy and trade players on a budget.

His team, as we come on the scene, is the requisite underdog that is usually at the center of sports movies. It has had its three most valuable players (Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen) lured away by big money. Beane throws his lot in with a nerdish computer nut (wonderfully played by the usually stereotyped Jonah Hill) to use statistics rather than "the same old good body crap" to build a new team.

Building is the name of the game, and it is fascinating to watch, whether you're a baseball fan or not.

It is no small coincidence that the script is co-written by Aaron Sorkin, who won every award known to the Western world for his "Social Network" script. As in "Social Network," he takes a seemingly boring subject and, deftly directed by Bennett Miller, makes it play like a thriller.

Computers can work with sports. I can testify from personal experience. Once, at another newspaper, I participated in a competition in which the sports department took on the news department in predicting the top 20 football games each week. Knowing nothing about guys who run around in Spandex and bump into each other, I took to statistics. In the first week, I correctly predicted 18 of the 20 games. Suddenly bookmakers from Las Vegas were on the phone wanting to know who I favored in such and such a game. The streak didn't last. In the third week, I got brave and decided to go with my gut. My numbers were terrible, but the news department did beat the sports department for the season.

The same game is played in "Moneyball." Old-time scouts think Beane is crazy. They resent the computer kid who has his ear. They go more by how a player looks and moves. The computer suggests that getting on base is the most necessary requirement. Also in the mix, importantly, is money. They can't afford big-ticket players. It's important to find guys who haven't yet been discovered.

Pitt, at age 47, wears a baseball cap and a bad haircut in his continued efforts to prove he is a good actor by not looking like Brad Pitt. He should stop worrying about being handsome. He has established acting credentials and, with this role, firmly cements them. This is a sure-bet Oscar nomination for him.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Oscar winner for "Capote," has a gruff presence as manager Art Howe. Happily, he forgoes some of his usual overacting.

Regrettably, the always-impressive Robin Wright (Forrest Gump's love) has only a minor scene, as Beane's ex-wife. She is wasted, although it's always good to have her on camera.

"Moneyball" is somewhat unique in that there is no real romance and, even more unique, the resolution does not depend on the outcome of some playoff game. Too often, and too simplistically, sports movies seem to suggest that the problems of life can be solved by a game. It's not that simple. Nor is this movie.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com

XXXX