For those in the dark, this is the movie version of Michael Lewis' book about Baltimore's No. 1 draft pick Michael Oher, a hulking black kid who was taken into the loving embrace of a lily white family in rural Mississippi after they found him bleeding and hungry on the side of the road. The fact that he was built like a dump truck and the high school team needed a left tackle is not really relevant here. What is relevant is that if the kid playing Oher doesn't get an Best Supporting Actor nod after looking that mopey for two straight hours, then Obama's America doesn't really exist.

Unfortunately, Tim McGraw's acting prowess kinda gets short shrift here. Hmm. I wonder why that is? That just means more time for White Ladies Threatening Gangsters! In Short Skirts! With Southern Accents! Bring the Kleenex, fellas.

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Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin Under Siege. Barry P. will be here shortly to tuck you in for the evening. That wasn't so bad now, was it?

As you all know, Brad Pitt has signed on to play Billy Beane—a hilarious concept in its own right—but now some of the other characters are filling out the picture. Dimitri Martin, who has slightly less star power than Pitt, will play Beane's assistant and future Dodger GM, Paul DePodesta. (The opening of DePodesta's Wikipedia entry is a master stroke, by the way.) Rick Peterson, a former A's pitching coach featured in the book will be played by ... Rick Peterson. David Justice and Scott Hatteberg have also been tabbed to play themselves. Obviously they are digging very deep into the talent pool for this one.

So Brad Pitt, a dude who has been Comedy Central-famous for like 10 minutes, and a bunch of former ball players will somehow attempt to make a book about nerds working in an office a compelling family-friendly box office draw. This should go about as well as the last three games of the 2001 ALDS did for Oakland.

Demetri Martin Cast in Steven Soderbergh's Moneyball [IFilm]
Brad Pitt in no way resembles Billy Beane; nobody apparently resembles Rick Peterson except for Rick Peterson [Big Picture]