Sure it’s not quite a film being shot in Europe where Brad can rent private trains, but it is touted as being the film that will finally get Brad that Oscar. Think of it as Blindside but about a guy and baseball. This wasn’t an easy film to make. In the summer of 2009 it was all ready to go: Brad as the star, Steven Soderbergh as director, Demetri Martin as Brad’s right hand man–it was great. Till the studio caught wind that the film was taking a more documentary approach and the film was stopped.
Brad continued to champion it though. “I just couldn’t let it go.” So the script got fixed, got a new director and a new right hand man in Jonah Hill. Brad said of Jonah, “Jonah’s a revelation in this thing—he’s a study in reserve. I think the most interesting work that’s been going on in the last couple of years is what the comedy guys have been doing. Guys like Jonah and Russell Brand and [Seth] Rogen and a few others … they picked up on an irreverence that started with Adam Sandler and continued with Will Ferrell, but they’ve been grounding it in a kind of pathos and humanity. I find it really strong work.”
