MoneyballMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 87 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
12 OK for kids 12+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Never before, though, have statistics added up to such electrifying entertainment. After the mostly minor-league productions of recent months, this movie, which was directed by Bennett Miller, renews your belief in the power of movies. Read full review

  • 100
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Funny, furious, and full of front-office drama. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The supersmart and rousing Moneyball, which may be the best baseball movie since "Bull Durham," is also about talk, but in a coolly heady and original inside-the-front-office way. Read full review

  • 90
    Movieline | Stephanie Zacharek

    Now that Pitt no longer has brash youth on his side, he's digging deeper and doing more with less. It's the kind of acting - understated but woven with golden threads of movie-star style - that gives us more to look at rather than less. Read full review

  • 88
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    Moneyball is a hilarious and provocative change-up, entertaining without feeling the need to swing for the fences. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Moneyball is one of the best and most viscerally exciting films of the year. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The supporting cast is strong, as is the deft, sharply witty script. Miller directs elegantly, letting the narrative unfold at a deliberate, artful pace. Read full review

  • 80
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    This extraordinary hybrid of a movie lives and breathes the game, yet its achievement is bigger than that. There's a touch of old-fashioned romanticism here, but more crucially there's strategy going on inside Bennett Miller's movie that turns it into something cool and special. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    The movie does achieve something nearly impossible: Someone who doesn't even like the sport may care about Billy Beane and the 2002 Oakland Athletics. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    Naysayers have been claiming for years that the "Moneyball" book wouldn't work as a movie. But ultimately, it's the cinematic touches that keep this film version from becoming something exceptional. Read full review

View more reviews for Moneyball on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 12+ Fantastic, inspiring baseball drama covers all its bases.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this inspiring, intelligent film based on Michael Lewis' bestselling non-fiction book stars Brad Pitt as a professional baseball manager who tries to reinvent the art of recruiting players. It's an incisive look at the classic game that -- thanks to pretty tame content aside from some swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), social drinking, and references to Las Vegas -- is age-appropriate for older tween sports movie fans and up. Plus, it has a strongly positive message about committing to a course of action and seeing it through no matter what.
  • Families can talk about the movie's message. How do you know how far to take an idea or plan that you believe in? Is there a way to know for sure whether an idea is a good one?
  • What is the movie saying about the world of professional baseball? What are the motivations of the owners? What about the managers and players?
  • How does the movie portray technology? Do you think statistics are the best way to find talented athletes? Or are there other factors that coaches should consider?
The good stuff
  • message true4 Positive messages: The movie has a pretty inspiring central message: Commit to a course, and don't let anyone shake you.
  • rolemodels true4 Positive role models: Billy is guided by an inner compass that he trusts, and he's willing to put his faith in a system because he believes in the employee who devised it. He's also a visionary, finding a way to remake a game that's been played the same way for decades.
What to watch for
  • violence false1 Violence: One character throws things around -- and even upends tables -- when he's anxious and frustrated.
  • sex false-1 Sexy stuff: A verbal reference to a character enjoying the naughty pastimes of Vegas.
  • language false3 Language: Language includes a couple of uses of "f--k," plus "s--t," "hell," "d--k," "a--hole," "crap," and "damn."
  • consumerism false4 Consumerism: Lots of logos/labels on T-shirts, sporting equipment, and the like: Puma, MetRX, Clif, Gap, Gatorade, Rawlings, Pepsi, Oracle, and more.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some drinking in social situations. A few times, a character nurses a drink alone. References to how one character loves Vegas and got drunk there.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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