Michael Lewis’ book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game” is one of those books I go back to at least once a year, which is high praise for nonfiction.
    
The book follows how the Oakland Athletics of the early 2000s managed to post 100-win seasons and trips to the playoffs in consecutive years, despite having one-third the payroll of baseball’s richest. Through using statistics to find undervalued baseball players, the A’s found success. Philosophies like valuing on-base percentage above any other stat, while discarding the need for good fielding, helped them achieve the feats.
    
The storytelling in it is so tight and captivating. Lewis writes the prose in such a way that it feels like a short story at times, with no distance between the reader and the subjects.
   
 So that’s why director Bennett Miller’s adaptation of the movie was going to be good, unless the makers messed up somewhere. They didn’t.
    
Sure, the movie had its potential pratfalls, but critics and fans alike overrated the idea that it was impossible to tell a movie about baseball statistics. After all, at the heart of the story is one man’s struggle to prove everyone wrong and a team full of underdogs along for the ride. And the book sure pulled off telling an entertaining and compelling account of the story, so why not the movie?
    
The trailer made it evident that they had nailed it. Casting Brad Pitt as the hotheaded, yet logical and down-to-earth Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane was an excellent move. With his wry smile and cocky stance, Pitt embraces the role of former ballplayer-turned-baseball executive who has not shed his hotheaded tendencies or his drive to prove himself.
    
Jonah Hill as A’s assistant general manager Peter Brand (in real life, Paul DePodesta) was a questionable choice, especially considering one of the other choices for the role — Demetri Martin — seemed like such a better fit. However, Hill managed to pull off the role and provides most of the laughs in the film. Kudos to Hill for reigning in his broader comedy tendencies, at least most of the time.
    
The only real problem with Brand’s character is that, while in real life, he was an outsider, the portrayal of the assistant general manager as a person does not quite feel authentic. The scene where Beane steals Brand away from the Cleveland Indians feels a little too played up for comedy, with Brand out-and-out scared of conversing with the guy. And, too often, Brand keeps his distance and tries to “figure out” Beane, while the book portrays an odd camaraderie between the two.
   
 The most underrated part of “Moneyball,” though, is another excellent casting choice — Phillip Seymour Hoffman as A’s manager Art Howe. Hoffman pulls off the dejected, perpetually angry Howe look extremely well, and the tension between Beane and Howe is the one part of the movie that plays better than the book. It also builds to one of the movie’s best scenes, when Howe finally gets his comeuppance for continually starting players Beane did not want him to.
    
The only major misstep “Moneyball” takes is with Beane’s daughter. Going into Beane’s home life was only natural, so as to humanize him and tell more about the character. But the way the movie played Beane’s relationship with his daughter felt schmaltzy consistently, and the song she plays just drove the movie’s themes home way more than necessary.
    
The movie version left out a sizable chunk of the book’s material — the portion where the A’s staff goes through that year’s draft and picks a bunch of unconventional players. It makes sense that the movie would skip this part, considering the team’s main pick, Nick Swisher, did not end up a long-time Athletics player, and many of the other choices from that draft did not really pan out. It’s interesting that the movie still included husky catcher Jeremy Brown in an odd cameo, considering he’s the draft’s most high-profile bust.
    
But the movie really should have spent more time with submarining reliever Chad Bradford, as his story of finally finding a spot on a roster and feeling appreciated is marginalized in the movie, with catcher-turned-first-baseman Scott Hatteberg getting all the attention.
    
But with Pitt starring, Hoffman a supporting character, Miller directing, Aaron Sorkin co-writing, and using material from Lewis’ excellent book, is it any wonder that “Moneyball” is worth seeing?