"Moneyball" review: A new spin on the art of winning

(CBS) The big screen adaptation of Michael Lewis' bestseller brings jocks and geeks closer than ever in Bennett Miller's ("Capote") "Moneyball."

The notion that somewhere along the line a numbers game beat out pure instinct in Major League Baseball is an interesting one and is the baseline for the true story of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (still there today, and played in the film by Brad Pitt). Beane is recognized as a pioneer in the use of computer generated analysis to try and gain a competitive edge, bettering the odds of coming up with a winning team.

Pictures: Brad Pitt
Pictures: Fall films 2011
Video: The Showbuzz on "Moneyball"

The film opens with a post season that looks like a home run, until things take a turn and the team loses all its' top players. Not able to compete with the financing available to the top tier teams, Beane realizes he needs to come up with a new strategy. He finds it in Peter Brand, smartly downplayed by Johan Hill. Brand is a no-nonsense analytical freak, who couldn't care less about sports. He proposes a revolutionary thought: winning is all in the numbers and a walk is as good as a hit. That's a hard sell to veterans of the game, who are passionate about who they put on the team and why. They're not buying it.

Beane, however, a former wannabe successful player, is sold. Brand's statistics and number running persuade him this is the baseball game of the future and he's convinced he's hit on a winning formula that translates into a home run.

Philip Seymour Hoffman makes an appearance for Miller's team, ably playing Art Howe, the team's field manager. Miller himself got the gig, after Steven Soderbergh walked away from the project and the question remains, would there have been more life breathed into "Moneyball" if Soderbergh had been at the helm, with his quick, edgier means of storytelling. Miller's film is slower than it should be for a sports film, albeit even when it's a "behind-the-scenes" sport flick. In an effort to keep the story cool and detached from the emotions usually involved with coming up with a winning team, he takes some of the passion out of the play. There is a little bit too much attention paid to sitting behind a desk and on the phone, crunching the numbers and doing the wheeling and dealing.

Pitt does a fine job and is committed to Beane's character. The scene where he is making his final trades is one of his shining moments in the film, but even that isn't enough to make this film better than average. That's not to say sports enthusiasts won't eat this stuff up, but if you are not a numbers nerd, or obsessed with baseball (or sports in general), I'm not sure how much of a winner "Moneyball" really is.

There is the obligatory set piece in the middle of the film, showcasing the wins the team notches up thanks to their manager's new strategy. Those are the scenes which provide the real "feel good" moments you want from a sports movie, but even Aaron Sorkin's razor sharp writing and clever zingers aren't enough to elevate this to the hype generated about "Moneyball" being this year's "The Social Network" - it's not even in the same league. The visual "highs" were missing from a film that in the end really is more about the numbers than the game. It walks - not slides - into home plate.