Moneyball is a movie that grew on me. Or maybe I grew on it. I didn't like it at first, but as the years passed and I watched it again, I began to like it. Now I love it. There are many great scenes in the movie, but one of my favorites is a great example of the subtle storytelling within the movie.
The scene opens with Scott Hatteberg, a catcher with a bad arm and no team, watching television at home in his darkened living room. His expression is empty. A Christmas tree is seen in the background. Scott's wife is in another room with their young daughter. Scott is alone, with his family only a few feet away. The phone rings and a few minutes later, the manager of the Oakland A's and a scout are in Scott's living room.
Long story short, they offer him an opportunity to play baseball again. It doesn't look like he thought it would, so throughout the scene, Scott had this confused look on his face. But when Billy and Ron leave, Scott turns his back to the camera, and you can tell by the look on his wife's face, as the little family of three hugs each other, that Scott is a man who has been given a second chance.
I love this scene for two reasons. I love seeing what people do with their second chances. I love it when someone rises from the ashes of their dreams and soars. I love it, man. I really do. The second reason I love this scene is the subtlety of it. The story unfolds in front of us and the weight and greatness of what we are watching sinks in slowly. If you blink, you might miss it. But if you don't miss it, you'll be glad you caught it, and you'll feel lucky that you did.
I want the stories I tell to make people feel the way that scene makes me feel. What kind of stories do you want to tell?