The Catcher Was a Spy (2018)

Sorry, this movie sucks

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The acting in this movie is really good.

But unfortunately it's presented in a boring movie!Actually this film is worth watching for the story/plot but it never reaches the level of entertaining until the last 15 or 20 minutes. If you bother to watch this movie you will understand.Possibly miscast with Paul Rudd as "Moe Berg" may be the problem here. There is more needed character development missing. In my mind I think Rudd could have given this character more substance with a better script. But sadly this is missing!

I'm boosting this movie in ratings a little to give it a break, from some of the others that I don't think understood it. 'The Catcher Was a Spy' isn't a spy movie at all, although the central action of the plot is a spy mission. Rather, it is a character study of a surprisingly interesting human being, Mo Berg. Despite an abundance of gifts - there are not many human beings who can play major league baseball AND speak 12 languages - he was one of the most intensely private people imaginable, making his life a complete enigma. The picture sought to capture the essence of the man. Paul Rudd was excellent in the major role, although his performance is so low key add buttoned-down, it is easy to disregard it.I liked the movie a lot. I also liked the first 'Kingman'. 'Kingsman' was a spy movie. This one is not. Taken on its own terms, you'll likely enjoy it.

When a movie is made about a real life person, it should try to get the story accurate. It seems some criticize this movie because it doesn't pack the action of a James Bond movie. Well, then go watch a James Bond movie! The Bond series was authored by someone who worked in British intelligence (Ian Fleming) and the details of his actual career read much like that of Moe Berg.Real spying isn't action packed. It's not supposed to be. A good spy is supposed to blend in so as not to attract attention. I liked this story because it portrayed the action in that way, in the periphery, as part of the plan but not the core part of it.Period newspaper articles in the United States, and Moe Berg's biography openly say that Berg's all important mission in Switzerland was to ascertain the probability of Heisenberg's ability to create a Nazi atomic bomb, and if he determined there was a chance, to kill him.It would be illogical to put an OSS spy in vicinity of someone like Heisenberg without a plan to assassinate him. The only reason not to is the effect on the scientific community should history record that the United States assassinated Heisenberg despite reasonable knowledge he wasn't able to build the bomb.The decision point that Moe Berg faced was one of the most interesting of the entire war. Perhaps the strongest reason against assassination is that Heisenberg was one of several leading Nazi scientists working on the atomic bomb. Killing him likely would have had no more impact than leaving him alive would have. Ultimately, post-war analysis of the Nazi's work, by those who led the Manhattan Project, proved that the Nazi program never had a chance of success. This because they never advanced past the theoretical, and even much of their theory was proven wrong by the actual research and development of the American project. So, Berg made the right choice.Regardless of that, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was not lightly awarded, not even to OSS spies who operated in neutral territory nor behind the lines. This is another indication that Berg's mission was presented reasonably accurately in this movie, as it shows the extreme risks he took, even as he sought to stay behind the scenes. It took another Nazi spy to recognize Berg's mission.In terms of movies that showed the efforts of OSS espionage, this movie might be among the most accurate. If you want the big explosions and body count, again, go watch a Bond movie and enjoy the entertainment. If you want to know what true spy craft looks like, then this movie provides a very good insight.It's mainly brains, the ability to think on one's feet, sum up a complex situation quickly, be physically fit enough to meet the demands, and be willing to employ the violence when the mission calls for it, but in a way that the public does not see -- exactly as this movie shows in telling the story of a true American hero. Moe Berg perfectly fit all the OSS requirements and this movie showed why.

It's hard to resist the baseball metaphors... For me the film never quite made it. It was certainly interesting enough, as Moe Berg was an interesting, multi-faceted person, but as a film, it was a bit flat and not hard hitting enough. I wondered whether it was because of Paul Rudd playing Berg; especially once Paul Giamatti was introduced I kept half-expecting them to start doing comedy, as they have together previously. In general I found the acting to be underwhelming, though as I often do, I'm not sure whether the cause of this was the acting or the script itself. Ironically, one of the reasons I watched it at all was because of the cast. I generally totally enjoy Paul Rudd and find Giamatti to be an excellent actor. Somehow the moderacy of the script didn't allow for them, especially Rudd, to transcend his pleasing, affable persona.