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Dialogue Drill: MONEYBALL

Here's one of the better bits of dialogue you'll find. The movie is MONEYBALL, screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay) and the story by Stan Chervin (based on the book by Michael Lewis).

Plot Summary: Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.

For this bit of dialogue, Brad Pitt's character Billy is the GM for the Oakland A's and they are a cheap team with no money (small market) and they just lost the World Series by a hair. Billy is pissed, his boss won't pay their talent so they sign with the Yankees .

 

               BILLY 
Guys, stop. You're talking like this is
business as usual. It's not.


GRADY
We're trying to solve the problem.


BILLY
Not like this. You're not even looking
at the problem.


GRADY
We not only have a very clear
understanding of the problem we now face,
but everyone in this room has faced
similar problems countless times before.


BILLY
Good. What's the problem?


GRADY
The problem is that we've lost 3 key
players that we now have to replace.


BILLY
Uh-uh. What's the problem?


PITTARO
The problem is the same as it always is;
we've got to put a team together with
what we've got.


         BILLY
Uh-uh. What's the problem?


BARRY
We've got 38 home runs to replace, 120
rbi's, 47 doubles...


BILLY
Okay, stop. The problem we’re trying to
solve is that this is an unfair game.
There are rich teams, poor teams, 50 feet
of crap and then there’s us. And now
we’ve been gutted. We’re organ donors to
the rich. The Red Sox took our kidneys
and the Yankees took our heart. And now
I’m listening to the same old shit about
having a good body and being a tools guy
like you’re looking for Fabio. Is there
another first baseman like Giambi?
(beat)
Is there?

Everyone mumbles “no.”

 

A small sampling but you hopefully get a feel for what great dialogue there is consistantly throughout MONEYBALL. To read the screenplay, click here.

Here's the video for the scene:

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