The Catcher Was A Spy - Movie Review

I like films that shed light on lesser known historical figures. Particularly when there is an element of suspense or espionage. What better figure to make a film about than a baseball player who worked for the OSS, the predecessor of today's CIA? That figure was "Moe" Berg. The film is The Catcher Was A Spy.

Raul Rudd (Antman) does a surprisingly good job taking on the challenge of portraying Morris "Moe" Berg, who was often described as "the brainiest guy in baseball." Berg spoke several languages, which required Rudd to deliver quite a few lines in languages as diverse as Japanese and Italian. While I am no language expert (and I am sure Rudd had excellent coaching), Rudd's delivery had a natural flow. While I don't know how perfect his pronunciation and accents were, his delivery was flawless. The story begins with Berg as a back-up catcher. His coach is pushing him towards a coaching career. Berg eventually hangs up his cleats to work for the Office of Strategic Services, which later became the Central Intelligence Agency. The film doesn't explore all of Berg's work with the OSS, skipping to the part that makes for better cinema.

Berg is recruited by General Donovan (Jeff Daniels) for a mission to Italy to interview a physicist who is friends with Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) who heads up the German nuclear program. Army Major Furman (Guy Pearce) accompanies Berg on the mission along with another academic, Samuel Goudsmit (Paul Giamatti). The trio must arrive in Italy and enter an occupied city to debrief an Italian physicist before the Germans can extract him. The civilians and their Army mentor dodge volleys of artillery and machine gun fire (unarmed) to complete their mission. They are later tasked with traveling to Zurich to attend a lecture by Heisenberg that will determine whether the Germans might be close to a nuclear bomb. That determination will be critical in the decision Berg must make regarding whether Heisenberg lives or dies.

I struggle with films like The Catcher Was A Spy. The film felt contrived, pulling together many true elements of Moe Berg's life and concocting a narrative that defies belief. I also hate boring stories. Were this story told without embellishment, it may have been a bit bland. After all, the film is a bit anti-climactic in the end. Berg was an odd guy and his story has some compelling, interesting elements. I think the needle could have been threaded in a way that may have been compelling without seeming ridiculous. The scene of Berg entering an Italian city had a Saving Private Ryan intensity. In reality, Berg was in Italy interviewing numerous Italian physicists. I am not sure what the dangers were in real life as it was an occupied country at the time, and a key member of the axis. But Berg's greatest danger, in real life, may have been getting a paper cut. I really don't know for sure, but I know that an OSS agent in his position was far to valuable to be cannon fodder. There is no way that he had to get past armor and a machine gun nest to conduct an interview. That was not even a little bit credible.

Aside from the obvious embellishment, the action sequences were great. I also liked some of the details about Berg's life because he was an interesting guy. He was a regular on a radio game show, he traveled to foreign countries (often in service of his country), he was a polyglot, he read nearly a dozen newspapers every day, and he played major league baseball prior to becoming a spy for the US government. In this film, Berg is also a homosexual. The film doesn't go overboard with the assertion, but it is a constant theme woven into the fabric of the film. I'm not sure how I feel about an American patriot being portrayed in a way that is speculative at best. Berg never married. He was a really strange guy in many ways. But I don't think it is fair to draw conclusions when there isn't any evidence. Unless, by evidence, you stretch things to say "he was a catcher" and "his nickname was Moe." Those are facts. But not suggestive facts.

I like historic films that have good production value. This film manages that feat, but then whiffs on some important details. Aside from some obvious misses with the war scenes and maneuvering, there were some minor issues that nagged at me. For instance, when we first meet General Donovan, his name is on the door "General Donovan." We then see Jeff Daniels wearing a military uniform with eagles on his shoulders. That would be "full bird Colonel" guys. The eagles stay on Donovan's shoulders for quite a while, only becoming a set of stars late in the film. His medals also appeared to be wrong, although the top medal was a Medal of Honor which was correct. The broader feel of the film definitely captured the feeling of that era, with just minor misses that irritated me.

The Catcher Was A Spy has a run time of one hour, 38 minutes. While quite a bit of interesting facts about Berg were left out, I think the choice not to cover everything is generally a prudent one. Tell a story and get it done. This film managed that, with obvious embellishment. But the film had good pacing and prudent editing to get the film to a reasonable run time. The film earned an R rating from the MPAA for mild sexuality, strong language and intense war violence. This film should be fine for teenage audiences or older.

While I enjoy historical dramas centered on real-life heroes, my enjoyment becomes diminished the more a story is stretched from its foundations. This story takes two major liberties. First, it interjects the topic of homosexuality into a story where there is nothing concrete to base that on. Second, the film successfully creates tension and drama by adding war scenes that are beyond the pale. The war scenes were so over-the-top that they lost credibility with me. The film also missed on several minor points that showed a lack of attention to detail. Cumulatively, this film missed a lot of opportunities. It could have been a much better film. It will be interesting to see how George Clooney presents this story in his telling of the Moe Berg story next year. 6/10.

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