As we head into the home stretch, it’s Steven Soderbergh vs. Amy Pascal in the fascinating little cancellation or turnaround or whatever it is kinda cold feet that Amy had last week (ending 6/19) about Soderbergh’s “Moneyball,” a baseball movie starring Brad Pitt that was supposed to start photography today (Monday, 6/22).

Maybe I’m pushing my own envelope, but do I detect a fear and loathing of new narrative format wafting from the Thalberg building (on the Sony lot)?  Let’s remember that Steven Soderbergh is one of the most (if not the most) versatile and fearless filmmakers working today.  This is the man who can successfully pull off the masterfully commercial “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise, and at the same time push the limits of narrative with below-the-radar independent films like the current “The Girlfriend Experience,” or “Full Frontal.”

So Amy’s got to be wondering which Soderbergh she’s got on the hook, here.  He’s got Brad Pitt in tow, but the new script apparently is far different from the one she approved.  Silly boy, he probably thought that he could give her an actual shooting script and that she would understand it!  The draft probably reads like the movie is going to look, not some 100-page “See Jane Run”-style pablum that overstressed Studio execs can understand.

Apparently, according to Variety’s article over the weekend, the film is going to combine fictional footage with documentary interviews (a la “Reds”) to tell the fictionalized story of player-turned-manager Billy Beane. Says Variety: “Pascal’s wariness is hardly unfathomable. Even though it was approved by Major League Baseball, the script doesn’t follow the traditional narrative structure of most sports yarns.”

Et voila!  But here’s what I don’t get about Amy, who is one of the most enduring and successful execs in town.  Here’s a chance to work with, to support, one of the smartest directors working today, with one of the top 5 stars everyone wants to work with, in a story about a colorful and unconventional character that could be a tour de force performance and maybe an Oscar nomination.  She can afford to take the chance that this would be an unconventionally-told movie.  She can afford to dine out on the idea that she’s pushing the envelope and make this film a test case for a reality-oriented docu-drama style movie that challenges the medium, the critics and the audience.  And Soderbergh is no enfant terrible.  This is not a Michael Cimino waiting to snub his nose at the studio establishment.  This is a filmmaker who has proven he can work in the mainstream.

Talk to him, Amy!  Don’t cancel his movie!  Trust him.  Work with him.  Make Lemonade.  Maybe there’s something here that Steve knows that you don’t.  Maybe your mind and your instincts have gotten soft from too many franchises and tentpoles.  Here’s a chance to get edgy again.  Feel the fear, Amy.  Feel what it’s like to really take a chance on something creatively.  Feel what it’s like to (maybe) fail brilliantly, vs. standing up at a board meeting and justifying your failure because you were just making a comic book movie and everybody loves comic book movies except just not this one.  Aren’t you bored with living your life like that?

Maybe not.  Easier to just shut the door on storytelling that makes you uncomfortable and hold on to your position.  Yes, I know, you’ve got the world on your shoulders, you have a big responsibility to shareholders, you have many many decisions to make and you just can’t be bothered to spend that much time thinking this one through.  I know, Amy.  I’ve been there.  It sucks. 

On your way to lunch in the car today, why don’t you listen to Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris” – her ode to David Geffen in the days when there was still hope. 

Well, maybe you’ll reconsider all this later this week…   I certainly hope so.  You’ll be doing the future a favor.