Michael Lewis himself has always been witty and accurate, and this time is no exception. Baseball is a sport that many people are familiar with and love, but Lewis was able to find an entry point that opened our eyes and can appreciate and think about baseball in different ways. And he did this not through too serious or technical papers, but through highly readable stories. Now, "Moneyball" is not only a must-read for baseball fans, it has also become a classic in commercial reading. The word "Moneyball" has become an independent term like "Google".
However, precisely because this book was so successful, I didn't think this film adapted from this book would be very good-looking at first. Because I also like movies, when I knew that this book would be adapted, I also started to think about how I would do it if I were a screenwriter. In the end, the answer I came up with was that it should not look pretty. Books and movies are different carriers, and Lewis, as a writer, makes the best use of the characteristics of the book as a carrier. Although "Moneyball" has vivid characters (the protagonist Billy Beane bears the brunt) and fascinating plots (such as the classic Jeremy Brown falling down in movies and books), how to string these highlights to make it a fascinating one The organic part of the movie seems to be an impossible task.
And this is exactly the surprising part of this movie. The story of Moneyball's movie version is ups and downs, and various drama conflicts emerge in endlessly, and Brad Pitt's Billy Beane is even more vivid than the book. In addition, the rhythm and lines of the movie are just right, and the use of the essence of Lewis' book is even more wonderful. For example, the aforementioned episode of Brown's fall not only played the role of humor and summary in the book, but also became a portrayal of Beane's own career. The most wonderful thing is that in the end, the movie also fictionalized the two protagonists and directly said: "it's a metaphor." "Yeah, I get it." This is a more humorous and fuller part of the characters.
Although I generally don't like the content in my work being rejected or re-created, Moneyball's movies are just right. Due to different carriers, it is inevitable that movies will weaken the content and story of the book itself. In fact, this also applies to Lewis' own work. After the popularity of "Moneyball", many people thought that Lewis had made this story too dramatic, so that many places did not match the facts. For example, Prince Fielder, who was considered too fat by Lewis, later became the most successful player of the year. But Lewis himself is a best-selling author rather than a journalist or scholar, so it is understandable to sacrifice authenticity for the readability of the story. In the same way, it is understandable that the film sacrifices the content of the book and appropriate fiction for the vividness of the story.
From this perspective, although the director's overall control and the superb performance of Pitt and others are indispensable to the success of the film, the most contributory factor is the screenwriter. Therefore, even without Lewis's own material, this film can still be a top-quality work. This film can be said to have reached the pinnacle of Hollywood commercial production, and this exquisiteness is reflected in every detail. Hollywood movies are indispensable to clichés, but as "Story" tells us, clichés also have their function, that is, they can be concise and concise to let the audience understand the sidelines in the shortest time so that the story and the characters are fuller, without delaying the main line of the story. The passage of Beane's family that appears in this film is not in the book, but it is even more touching.
Although baseball is what we love, the concept of Moneyball is fascinating, but what really touches people is the sincere emotions between father and daughter. The end of the film is based on the daughter's immature singing voice and touching lyrics, just like the entire Moneyball movie. It can be said to be reasonable, unexpected, and wonderful.
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