On the surface, The Catcher was a Spy, appears to be a great idea for a film. It's based on the meticulously researched book of the same name, about Moe Berg (Paul Rudd), a Princeton graduate turned professional baseball player in the 1930s, who later became a spy for the OSS (the precursor of the CIA) in World War II. Director Ben Lewin called upon screenwriter Robert Rodat (known primarily for writing Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan) to flesh out Berg's character-a difficult job as Berg's life was shrouded in mystery. Quite a bit of it calls for speculation; perhaps an exceptional writer could have done something with the material, but Rodat is clearly not up to the task. Still I'm hesitant to criticize the writing here too much, as it's an insanely difficult subject to dramatize. Part of the problem is that Berg's relationships were superficial and never lasted for long periods of time. Hence, his interactions with various characters (baseball players, a girlfriend, a commanding officer for example) are short-lived, leading to a lack of character development. We feel particularly cheated in seeing little of Berg's baseball days. An opportunity is perhaps lost when Berg is shown taking the 1934 "goodwill" tour to Japan with baseball stars including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. I would have liked to have seen and heard from some of those luminaries which could have given the film a little more flavor. His "spying" while in Japan, shooting home movies of industrial areas in Tokyo, is certainly interesting but there's little excitement (at best his homosexuality is hinted at in his interactions with a Japanese professor who predicts the coming world conflict). The scene in which he fights back when a Boston Red Sox player assaults him for being "queer," felt forced. Did that really happen? He's attacked for merely being an intellectual and "possibly" being a homosexual? That's something he never admitted to so I found it to be unlikely that a teammate would jeopardize his own career by doing such a thing (especially when Berg was a popular figure in the media at the time). The bulk of the film concerns Berg joining the OSS and being given the assignment of trying to find out whether the German physicist Werner Heisenberg was close to developing an atomic bomb for the Nazis. The one "action" scene in the film takes place in Italy, where Berg is paired with another scientist, Samuel Goudsmit (Paul Giamatti), and both are almost killed when they come under fire while attempting to locate and interview an Italian confidant of Heisenberg. Again, the unlikely scene of the two intellectuals surviving hellish combat was not particularly convincing. The finale is wholly anti-climactic where Berg comes face to face with Heisenberg, but decides not to assassinate him as he concludes that the scientist is not close to developing a bomb for his German taskmasters. Of course it's fairly well known that Heisenberg survived the war, so Berg's machinations are not very exciting at all. Both the director and screenwriter hold up Berg as some kind of hero, but history suggests otherwise. After the war, Berg never worked another day in his life, primarily freeloading off his brother who finally kicked him out of his house-he then went to live with his sister for the rest of his days. There was also the suggestion that he may have been involved in touching young children inappropriately. The Catcher was a Spy proves to be a mildly interesting survey of Moe Berg's life, best summed up as a series of vignettes that shed little insight into the man's character. Paul Rudd is saddled with a script that only hints at aspects of Berg's personality and ultimately he fails to convince us that Berg was a heroic character.

This film centers on the life of Moe Berg (a Red Sox catcher) who volunteers as an OSS (now CIA) agent. His objective is to thwart the Nazi's from developing an atomic bond. It's a good film that will remind many viewers of movies from the 60s. There is no CGI, and you won't mistake it for an action thriller.The movies is based on actual events and is primarily an character film with an outstanding cast...a movie unlike many produced today. It shows a world of spies that is less glamorous than Bond or similar films. The Catcher Was a Spy probably won't appeal to a young audience. It is an adult film. If you enjoy films from the golden age of Hollywood, this is a film for you.

This film tells the story of a catcher turned spy's secret mission in Europe int eh Second World War.The story is captivating throughout. Paul Rudd's mysterious character has a charm and has complexity which draws you to him. He is magnetic and makes you emphathise with him. I enjoyed the film a lot.

"The Catcher Was A Spy" (2018 release; 98 min.) brings the life and times of Moe Berg, "based on a true story". Before the movie begins in earnest, we are reminded that the Germans split the atom in 1938, marking the birth of the nuclear age. The Nazis chose Heisenberg to lead that effort. The movie opens with Berg approaching Heisenberg. IS Berg about to kill him? We then go "Eight Years Earlier" where we get to know Berg as a back-up catcher for the Red Sox in the twilight of his career, and someone who happens to have degrees from Princeton and Columbia Law, and speaks 7 languages fluently. At this point we are less than 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the latest from director Ben Lewin, who some 5 years ago brought us the delightful "The Sessions" comedy. Here he goes, based on the book of the same name, in a very different direction, examining the life of a remarkable man who ens up working for the Office of Strategic Services during WWII. How he, a baseball player, ends up there is of course one of the core attractions of the movie. With Paul Rudd cast as Moe Berg, the movie in theory has all the elements to be a terrific film. Alas, it was not to be. The acting performances all come across very wooden (you can practically hear Lewin yell "and... ACTION" at the beginning of a scene). Paul Rudd, Sienna Miller (as Berg's supposed girlfriend), Jeff Daniels (as the OSS officer), Tom Wilkinson (as a facilitator and dinner host), they all look utterly lost, desperately hoping for some direction that never comes. What should be a riveting real-life tale of spies and military drama, instead turns out to be a flat-out snooze-inducing, lifeless and boring bio-pic. What a darn shame and what a waste of acting and creative talent..."The Catcher Was A Spy" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival, and recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. I admit I was on the fence about seeing this, but ended up seeing this after all. The Wednesday (Independence Day) matinee screening where I saw this at was attended very nicely (25-30 people). If you are a fan of WWII dramas, and assuming you keep your expectations in check, I might suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion. But I, for one, cannot in good conscience recommend this film.