Moneyball is a very well executed version of a very flawed story. Nevermind that the story doesn't really have a fairy tale ending but this telling of the story leaves out a LOT of key details. It's an extremely slanted version of the truth; one that is aimed at making sabermetrics and the Billy Beane approach to scouting look almost pristine. Sadly, it's my knowledge of said shortcomings that made me struggle to truly get caught up and really enjoy this film.

So while I am a bit jaded, I have to say that I think there's a very small audience for this movie. I could see some art house aficianados who want to see old guard baseball minds trumped by an Ivy league economics grad reveling in the movie although the main audience is probably above-average baseball fans - the ones who would be interested in the tale of how stats took over baseball but aren't such die-hards that they know the story (both the truth and what Moneyball spins.)

Add into all of this that the movie really drags at points and I come away with another film that I can only recommend as a rental. On a side note, however, I would like to see Chris Pratt get a shot at leading man status. He strikes me as the kind of guy who could be the next everyman action star. He's got a likability that could help him in the Willis or Damon type actioners