X
- 2018
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 34 m
- 2018
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 34 m
Summary This gripping, stranger-than-fiction espionage thriller brings to life the incredible true story of Moe Berg, the professional baseball player who became a World War II spy. A Jewish, Princeton-educated, multilingual catcher for the Boston Red Sox with a closely-guarded private life, the enigmatic Berg (Paul Rudd) was already a man of my...
Directed By: Ben Lewin
Written By: Robert Rodat, Nicholas Dawidoff
- 2018
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 34 m
- 2018
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 34 m
The Catcher Was a Spy
49
6.3
Where to Watch
Summary This gripping, stranger-than-fiction espionage thriller brings to life the incredible true story of Moe Berg, the professional baseball player who became a World War II spy. A Jewish, Princeton-educated, multilingual catcher for the Boston Red Sox with a closely-guarded private life, the enigmatic Berg (Paul Rudd) was already a man of my...
Directed By: Ben Lewin
Written By: Robert Rodat, Nicholas Dawidoff
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
49
26% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
67% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
7% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
49
26% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
67% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
7% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
It’s an absorbing character study of a most intriguing man.
This is a very enjoyable middle-of-the-road adventure, especially for moviegoers willing to see just about anything starring Rudd.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
6.3
43% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
52% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
6.3
43% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
52% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
I wasn't expecting much from mediocre reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised. There is nothing wrong with the movie besides being somewhat "slow". I actually found it really interesting, as its a strangely true story so I wanted to see what would happen next. It also has a really nice performance by Rudd in the lead, and a slew of excellent supporting actors who are all fine in their roles as well. Its not a pulse pounding action movie, or a total thrilling spy movie for the majority of it either, but an interesting journey about an interesting man. If you like the ww2 genre, you will most likely enjoy the film to some degree. I have seen worse films, and way more boring films, get better reviews than this film. It was decent.
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7 stars Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
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Sadly, it isn’t a great movie. It’s a disappointingly mild period thriller that’s light on thrills. Even Paul Rudd, one of the most likable actors in Hollywood, can’t rescue it.
While the always affable Rudd is up to the more serious task at hand, the overly studied direction by Australian Ben Lewin frustratingly keeps the audience at arm’s length from both its lead and that surprising chain of events, which feel as palpably pieced together as the stitching on Berg’s baseballs.
Ironically, the film is conspicuous not for its brio but its blandness.
The imagery is romantically period, with textured scenes staged in handsomely lit smoke-filled rooms, its newsreels and baseball stadiums suffused with charming Americana. But you can’t root for set design or feel empathy for colored filters. You need human beings for that, and The Catcher Was a Spy keeps its heart under lock and key.
The spy genre is a tricky business, because the tempo and flow of the film must adapt to numerous different scenarios and narrative changes. In Lewin’s movie, however, the ever-changing intricacies of Dawidoff’s book are rendered flat, unappealing and messy.
Paul Rudd gets serious in this biopic about a pro baseball player with incredible intellectual skills (7 languages and 3 degrees). He's sent to Zurich during WWII, where he's supposed to assassinate the man responsible for Germany's atom bomb efforts. Rudd keeps his enigmatic misfit character in a low-key mode, which is similar to the mellow mood of the movie. It's not suspenseful or complex enuff for a good spy story, but still manages to be an interesting portrait of this unique man. Even with a list of strong supporting actors (Jeff Daniels, Guy Pearce, Sienna Miller and Giancarlo Giannini), director Ben Lewin couldn't muster much dramatic intensity out of this potentially compelling story.
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The Catcher Was A Spy Review
Cinematography: 6.932/10 The film has moments that really look good and mesh well though inconsistently with the effects the story gives. I feel as though there are enough scenes though not enough scenes; there seems to be enough scenes to tell the full story though not enough scenes telling the story.
Costume Design: 8.392/10 Everything looks in order and the attire does make the times presented more resonant.
Film Editing: 7.994/10 The scenes are put together well.
Make-up and Hair-styling: 8.121/10 As with the attire, the presentations of the characters makes the times presented in the film more resonant.
Sound Editing: 8.001/10 Decent for the film.
Visual Effects: - /10
Story: 7.121/10 The actual story is interesting. The depiction of the story in the film is sketchy. There seems to be a lack of telling all that makes the protagonist that person. He was a good ball player with the potential to be a better coach and then the story devolves then attempts to re-latch to his public persona which makes his private persona that much more pertinent.
Acting: 6.219/10 How do the acting partners meant to have a natural accent all throughout have less of a natural accent than the acting partners meant to have a slightly unnatural accent? I don't feel as though the acting in all of the scenarios is consistent in a way that brings the full effect of the actual story to life.
Personal: I feel like The Catcher Was A Spy makes the attempt in storytelling The Imitation Game successfully completes. I don't think there was enough emphasis on Moe's ability to assess situations more so than on his sexuality. There's even a scene which throws away any care of Moe's sexual partners and the film seems to try grasping everything else that makes Moe valuable in a bit of a jumble though careless fashion. Also, the last story I've come across to effectively use Chess in an intricate-interesting manner is The Westing Game (this story is really good, at least, I like it).
Overall: 6.549/10
-K.D.
If you're into Poetry and other bits of creativity, check out my Instagram: @Dufreshest.
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(Mauro Lanari)
An unusual spy film, not inert but intimist and introspective, a slow burning that leaves its mark. The stellar cast adapts to the directorial code and those who expect something different will be disappointed.
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It’s like reading an interesting Wikipedia article. Occasional moments will grab your attention while others will have you wanting to do further research, but in between is a lot of slow filler.
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In my opinion this movie was really boring for most of the time. Ok, it is based on true story and all that, but I think I will forget about such a movie in less than a month. It lacks something to be memorable and at some points it is just plain boring, even though the premise of the story seems interesting. Acting is good and I like that they spoke in Italian and German where necessary instead of using English and pretending there that it is the right language, but the screenplay - I think either the actual story wasn't as interesting to make a movie or they just made a bad screenplay of it.
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Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 1 Nomination
