User reviews

Ben Lewin has brought Nicholas Dawidoff 1994 biography about the mysterious Moe Berg. And Moe Berg remained a mystery until he died. Here's food for thought: when you think of Jews in baseball Moe Berg's name doesn't easily come to mind. Hank Grrenberg, yes. Sandy Kofax, for sure. Not Moe Berg who played for the Boston Red Sox during the 20s and the 30s. 'The Catcher was a Spy' is a conventional film with a fascinating 'hero': a polyglot, a polymath, born of Eastern Europeans Jews who settled in Harlem. And yet, Berg, played by a charming Paul Rudd who like his character celebrates tight lip secrecy. It is to Rudd's credit to have learned smatterings of six or seven languages to give body to his character who know many, many more. Berg graduated summa laude from Princeton when few Jews could attend. A lawyer from Columbia law who passed the bar before he finished his degree. Yet baseball was his life as was spying. The script writers give short shift to the spy Berg when he went to Japan with an all-star team that included Babe Ruth. We get the idea Berg dresses up as a Japanese in full kimono, armed with a camera films from the roof of a hospital Tokyo Harbor which had a dual use as a military facility. It would have taken too much to explain the prewar politics and the role of Japan invading Manchuria, testing America's and European empires' turf in Asia. So, although Berg was acting on behalf of a rudimentary US spy agency, Lewin's script white washes it as an act of a patriot. There is a 'love' story, but beneath the surface the film there is a flaw, a 'moral flaw' for the time. Was Berg queer? Probably. A scene of a night visit to the waterfront frequented by men, and non reputable bars frequented soley by men. Now to the film: Wild Bill Donovan, founder of the OSS, predecessor to the CIA, recruits Berg after Pearl Harbor. Donovan asks him if he's queer. And without a beat, Rudd replies, 'I know how to keep secrets'; to which Donovan replies, I don't care wo a man f--ks, I'm only interested if he's wants us to win the war'. Berg's assignment is to kill Werner Heisenberg, father of the German nuclear bomb. And here the film takes wings...and a high moment of the 'Catcher was a Spy' is when Rudd and Strong play mental chess, to fathom have the Germans the bomb. And here we see Berg has a dialectical frame of mind, he's willing to spare Heisenberg for an answer that Germany's nuclear project is not very advanced. (Heisenberg is the object of an award winning play "Copenhagen' that infers Heisenberg purposefully delayed Hitler's plans for a nuclear weapon.) The camera turns all over the place Japan, Italy, New York and Switzerland. Long shots, close shots, it runs the full alphabet of film making. Rudd speaks his languages fairly well with a good accent, but slips briefly when it comes to French. There is nothing dramatically wrong, but the film never plumbs the secretive Moe Berg. At the end we are told Berg never married and spent time in libraries. And yet he never left the CIAin mind and spirit and died the loner he was.

I like Paul Rudd a lot. He's very likeable. I don't fault casting for why this movie wasn't as good as it could have been (as I've seen some other reviewers do). Ultimately, I think this movie falls short more because it didn't know quite what it wanted to be. Was it a serious historical drama about a spy with suspense set during war times? Kind of. In moments. But it also felt very light at times given the subject matter. It never went deep enough into it to make you care or for you to feel scared for the welfare of the characters involved.

In an intriguing story about an intriguing true life individual.

He was very ably supported by a very talented cast.

Interestingly. I'd only recently seen the 1946 film "Cloak And Dagger", starring Lilli Palmer and Gary Cooper, which touched on the same issue of an American spy going to Italy and Switzerland in an effort to prevent the nazis from developing a nuclear weapon.

But this story was much more than that, looking at various facets of the fascinating life of Moe Berg.

We watched this at home on DVD from our public library.

Over the years there have been many movies made regarding interesting WW2 stories. This one caught me by surprise because it could have had such a significance in the worldwide Scientific community.

German Physicist Werner Heisenberg was one of the great minds of the 20th century. He was responsible for the development of Quantum Mechanics and most science students know him for his "Uncertainty Principle." But the US intelligence worried that he might be on the verge of developing the technology to build atomic bombs.

Paul Rudd comes across really well as Moe Berg, former MLB catcher. Although he was a mediocre big league baseball player he was highly intelligent and highly educated, and spoke several languages fluently, including German, Italian, and French. And he was a patriot, willing to die for his country if it came down to that.

Berg was given the spy assignment as a scientist, to travel to Italy and meet with Heisenberg, find out what he could about their progress. Berg was armed, he was to kill Heisenberg on the spot if he determined that they were on track to develop the bomb. It would be his decision alone.

There isn't a lot of action but it is a very realistic accounting of the Moe Berg story in a very well made movie with some of the best actors in key roles.

FEB 2024 edit: I just watched it again, for me, being a Scientist acutely aware of Heisenberg's role in 20th century Physics, it is one of the better movies I have ever watched.

This started out so strong. Based on a true story, I was so interested in how this Major League Baseball player who has to hide his from most people will navigate both his life as a spy during WWII as well as his personal life.... But it didn't go as deep as it could have. Maybe the casting of Paul Rudd was a little off too, but I think much of it is attributable to the script and directing. It felt like it stayed too surface level, and then when there were scenes of spy activity that could have been suspenseful, it was directed in a way to play for the joke or the levity of the scene.

If you're into WWII stories, historical biopics, etc. I think this is worth a watch, but I think it could have been better.

It reminds me of the Steven Spielberg, Tom hanks collaboration, Bridge of Spies, but did not hit me as hard.

World war 2 was the type of war that all good Americans wanted to be a part of, so no surprise that a Major baseball player (our fav pastime) wanted to get in on the action.

Moe Berg was an over the hill baseball player who happen to have went to college and became a master of a lot of languages. Right there, he sounds like the type of spy they make TV shows out of, which is why I think this movie is so good.

Paul Rudd was good at playing this type of spy too. I felt it to be believable in the situation. Possible not that important, but I like it none the less. Not exactly James Bond but Rudd used his overall charming and humorous persona to be the leading man this movie needs.

Good Watch.

There are going to be lovers and haters of this movie depending on your taste and how much you like to pick holes in the acting and plot. Picky people will find many in this movie.

With all the big name actors it had you would expect it to be at least good and for me it was, I enjoyed it and never once wanted to stop watching, for me that is a sign of a good movie.

Paul Rudd, who I don't always like as and actor was very good in this, the rest of the cast do a fine job, most are prominent actors who I expect to do well in any movie they are in.

The fact it is based on a true story can be either a benefit of hindrance depending on how the story is handled, this one was handled quite well in my opinion and while it will never win any awards it is worth watching.

Not a perfect movie, but good enough to watch more than once.

This is decidedly a film for those with a sense of historical curiosity. Moe Berg was an extremely interesting fellow; not just a ball player who became a spy for the US. He was proficient in several languages and an Ivy League scholar; not your typical jock ballplayer. Rudd does a very good job of convincing us that he is in total control at all times. The race for the atom bomb is the subplot in the film and is nicely accented by the director. Production values are excellent and the only weakness of the film is the hurried entry into Nazi Germany from the front lines established by the Allies. I would have preferred a longer sequence on that circumstance. However, the viewer is kept in suspense as to whether Berg will carry out his orders; assassinating a German scientist capable of creating the atom bomb. I found this film to be very entertaining.

The real story of Moe Berg is fascinating, in and of itself. An extremely intelligent man from a modest background. Then he went on to do great things in the service of America. But this version strikes one loud, wrong note. There is no evidence that Moe Berg was gay. In his candid autobiography he never says a word. None. Yet this movie, hovering on PC, chooses to invent this fiction and give it prominence. A shame. What should have been emphasized more was that he was Jewish and suffered extreme prejudice in his early life, then well into adulthood. That he did talk about. The movie mostly glosses over that. As for whether he would have shot Werner Heisenberg, no one really knows. The best account is in Thomas Power's book, Heisenberg's War. Heisenberg was brilliant. And a patriotic German. Not a Nazi. But because so many of the other brilliant German physicists had been driven out of the country, Heisenberg had no team to work on an atomic bomb. He likely was a year or more from developing the bomb for Germany. By that time the Third Reich had been consigned to the trash heap of history.

What comes to mind when we talk about a spy films? Something like Mission Impossible, James Bond or a little different ones like Salt, Red Sparrow and so on... ?

Well there is a basic difference between spy fiction and the reality of spy trade-craft. Although the most exciting of the spy thrillers try to capture some of the elements of real world spying but those are mostly technical aspects which are adopted to give these movies a certain credibility; to make them believable to some extent.

Spy biopics like 'The Catcher Was a Spy' are different from these spy action thrillers because the titular characters are not out there to perform stunts. They are out there to gather real and sensitive information. Information which could decide the fate of a real war and a real man's life. The thrill in this movie comes from the grand scope of the mission and the conversely understated actions of a spy so as to avoid all attention. There are no guns blazing here.

This is Paul Rudd's classic regular guy performances at it's best. The real life Moe Berg was an anomaly. A sportsman with unexceptional career but a genius mind of sorts. Quite simply a good candidate for a spy in second world war but not of much use afterwards.

If you are watching this movie for the spy thrills then you might be disappointed. However, if you want to get a glimpse of what an American spy must have found out after talking to people like Werner Heisenberg about the nuclear weapons program of Nazi Germany, then it might be worth it.

I can compare 'The Catcher was a Spy' to a bit more contemporary spy biopic like 'Snowden'. Although completely different in tone and nature, both these spy biopics have something in common. They are about getting to know the mind of the person. Both these movies try to bring out the inner complexities of these people who are quite literally doing a job that demands them to be secretive, deceptive and yet charming.

Greetings again from the darkness. World War II. Baseball. Spies. A true story. Assemble all those pieces and you have Morris "Moe" Berg. Director Ben Lewin (THE SESSIONS, 2012) brings the fascinating story to the big screen with Robert Rodat's (Oscar nominated for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) screenplay adapted from the 1994 biography "The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg" written by Nicholas Dawidoff. This is neither your typical spy movie nor your typical baseball movie.

Background information is provided by pre-movie title cards: in 1938 German scientists split the atom for the first time, ushering in the nuclear age; renowned German physicist Werner Heisenberg (1932 Nobel Prize winner) was charged with building an atom bomb; the United States responded by sending a baseball player to assassinate him. It's 1944 Zurich and two men exchange uncomfortable glances across a dimly lit room.

We then flashback 8 years to see Moe Berg utilizing his gut instincts to survive as a veteran journeyman catcher for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. We later learn his sixth sense is not limited to the baseball diamond, and is used in situations much more important than whether a baserunner is stealing a base. Growing up Jewish, Berg had always been somewhat of an outsider, admitting, "I don't fit in." In baseball, they called him a walking enigma. Educated at Princeton, Columbia and Sorbonne in Paris, Berg spoke several languages, had a 'fake' wife, was a regular on quiz shows, and was constantly followed by insinuations of homosexuality ... though he only admitted to being good at keeping secrets.

Berg's is a truly fascinating story, but unfortunately Paul Rudd is a bit overmatched in the lead role. He just doesn't quite have the dramatic acting chops to convey the intellectual depth of the man. However, the rest of the cast is stellar: Paul Giamatti (as Samuel Goudsmit), Connie Nielsen, Mark Strong (Heisenberg), Sienna Miller, Hiroyuki Sanada, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels (as William J Donovan), Tom Wilkinson (as Paul Scherrer), Giancarlo Giannini (a 50 year career), and Shea Whigham (as Joe Cronin). Many of these are little more than cameos, and the choppy feel of the film's flow prevents us from ever really connecting to characters.

An extended battle scene volleys from intense and well-filmed to slightly comical as Mr. Giamatti is forced to run and dodge bullets. The look, tone and color palette of the film is quite similar to Spielberg's BRIDGE OF SPIES (another true story), though this current one pales in comparison, as director Lewin presents it as a "will he won't he kill the guy?" scenario. Berg's story is likely more suited to documentary treatment, as his time with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS, later the CIA), resulted in his being awarded the Medal of Freedom. Upon his death in 1972, Newsweek's headline read "3rd String Catcher, 1st String Spy".

On paper everything about The Catcher Was a Spy appears to be in place to deliver a standout dramatic movie experience.

We've got a talented director in the form of Ben Lewin (of The Sessions fame), beloved comedic actor Paul Rudd getting his trenchcoat on and going into serious mode and the true story of American baseball player turned undercover spy Moe Berg as its narrative driver but everything can't combine its elements here to become the film it had the chance to be.

Coming and going in other territories towards the end of last year, Catcher came and went with very little fanfare considering its got an intriguing true life story at its core but after finally finding its way onto Australian shelves in the last few months, it's not hard to see why so many felt cold towards Lewin's film, that suffers from a severe lack of heart, soul or thrills as Rudd does his best to reign in his usual shtick to deliver a true everyman performance.

His got a lot of support around him with the likes of Sienna Miller, Paul Giamatti, Jeff Daniels, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Strong all showing up for moments within the film but Lewin and screenwriter Robert Rodat are unable to unlock the mysterious Berg in a way that allows us any significant insight into his mindset or motivations, as he leaves his career in baseball during World War 2 on a quest to discover more about famed scientist Werner Heisenberg's work in the nuclear field.

There's barely a single scene in Catcher that gets any type of blood racing, no real sense of danger or threat and the friendships and romances that are scattered through Berg's life at the time don't inspire much from the viewer eithe,r with the film feeling more like a procession of box ticking rather than a lived in and alive examination of one of America's most intriguing sporting figures of the World War 2 period.

Diehard war genre fans may find more to enjoy from Catcher than casual filmgoers, while baseball fans may get a kick out of seeing how one of the game's most memorable characters lived out an extra ordinary life but for the rest of us, Catcher remains a watchable but totally forgettable experience that squanders a great cast and loaded story in a criminally bland fashion.

Final Say -

It's great to see Paul Rudd stretch his acting muscles in a different style of film but The Catcher Was a Spy is a dull true life drama that dropped the ball in its telling of a captivating real life story.

2 trenchcoat's out of 5

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.

This based on a true story account of baseball player turned spy is mostly a success. The first half covers the main character and his secretive life and does it well and sets up the second half nicely. The story is well paced and well written in the main. It has a great cast and Paul Rudd holds the main role very well, playing against type and the sets and feel of the movie are excellent. Where the film is let down is that it is sometimes underwhelming, in particular all the excellent supporting cast is underused and this film could have done with fleshing both the characters and the story out. It's rare I feel a film is too short but this is one case in point. Overall this was better than the reviews and was therefore better than I expected. Worth a watch.

The movie had good lighting and acting however the storyline was made like a good BBC spy serial rather than movie !

Such high spending on filming in awesome locations including Japan, Italy and such amazing cast. Seems like kind of wasted on the lazy dull script, and somewhere in the execution. It kept promising for the build up which never does. No, am not talking of action or gun shot scenes. It is the build up of tension and character building and other facets that make a good movie. With a premise and story like this one, it could have reached greatness. Also felt that somewhere the director was maybe confused somewhere in deciding if he wanted it to be a quite thriller, or paced one or if he should just keep it low as it moves slow and paced at the same time. Feels like a wasted opportunity at the end of the movie.

It's a movie which takes to unknown side of adventurous story line. The movie uncover spy who is more minded and human being than other spy movies like purley stunt man. It's like real Spy who just on place to gather sensitive information rather killing people. But it's not like no guns in movie just they don't make so much noise like other spy movies.

The movie is completely different in tone and color also shows inner complexity of individual who just do his job for nation.

Disappointing in the end. Maybe Paul Rudd's best role, very well written dialog, many other roles and set pieces are good. But in the end... meh? It sorta lost its way. Felt awful abbreviated, and rushed in the last half. Ending with a dozen title frames to explain what happened seems like a bad sign they couldn't manage to tell us instead.

This movie is a far better attaempt at war darama than, say, Operation Finale of the same years. Here, we are treated to a pretty decent war spy drama about Mo Berg and his services to OSS during WWII. Paul Rudd did a good job, but sometimes he is a bit lame and thus does not convince wholly. Jeff Daniels is strong enough, but he also lacks his drama depth like one he showed in Gettysburg, Mark Strong may be the weakest link in this chain as he does not succeed to deliver a more persuasive character. Critics were quite right - this is a promising affairm but it fals short off its potential and seems more like parts of its sum than a cohesive fluent fluid movie.