The film The Catcher Was a Spy gets released this week on DVD/Digital HD and unlike most other spy stories, this one is based on true facts. Taking a look at the mess the USA was in just before WWII with Germany gobbling up most of Europe, who would have thought that an honored baseball player would become a hero in a very unexpected way. Well this is his story and it involves the Atomic Bomb.
Its 1938 and Hitler has taken over Austria and started to occupy Sudetenland. He was well on his way to power and with the Nuremberg Laws in place his regime controlled everyone and everything within that area. That same year German Scientists split the Atom for the first time and the Nuclear Age began. Wanting to have the best power available should he need it, Hitler ordered the building of a fission bomb and put the project in the hands of Nobel Prize winning Physicist Werner Heisenberg.
A baseball player who was near retirement, Moe Berg, had learned a lot of languages touring with the US all-star team. Not on the world stage, he was asked to participate in a special project for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). He was groomed and trained with the troops and upon completion they sent him to Europe where he was to meet Heisenberg and kill him.
The movie plays out like a melodrama, first showing the baseball player who was to give himself for the country, then showing how he managed to put himself in the position of danger and the attempt to stop the Atomic Bomb from being Hitler’s prize. Director Ben Lewin works some magic and turns time back to 1938’s baseball diamond showing Berg on the Boston Red Sox. Aging his film from that point, he keeps the movie at the same level in Europe as well. It’s a nice technique, much like that of Steven Speilberg’s Bridge of Spies that brought audiences back to the Cold War Era. I like what Lewin did here and it helps his film a lot.
Lewin uses his actors well and it’s an amazing cast that includes a long list of notable actors including Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Mark Strong Tom Wilkinson, Jeff Daniels, Sienna Miller, and Connie Nielsen. They all show their best in this one keeping their characters in tune with the subject matter and making it all look real. It’s amazing when you can have such professional support actors in a film as the reality thermometer rises to the top.
Playing the role of Berg is no easy task, but Paul Rudd takes on the serious character driven plot and setting aside his action hero face and comedy persona, he makes it work here. I’m sure some of you will see Ant Man in him, but try to stay on point as his performance as Berg surly breaks the mold of his past big hits.
While I enjoyed the film for its actors, the nature of the plot and the relevance to how the world would have changed if Hitler had the bomb, I felt that Lewin has a problem with its ending being so blunt. It was almost matter of fact, so why tell the story at all? I couldn’t help but wonder considering the number of deleted scenes if there were more to the story and it was snippet to the cutting room floor.
BONUS FEATURES:
There are 7 “Deleted Scenes” some of which are obvious because they would have given too much away. They are titled: The Professor, Promise, No Fool, Field Orders, Luddite Theory, We Don’t Stop, and Language of Love.
The Catcher was a Spy has been rated R by the MPAA for some sexuality, violence and language. The film is
based on the book “The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg” by Nicholas Dawidoff.
It gets released on October 2nd on DVD and Digital HD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A well-made film that entertains. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Starring: Paul Rudd, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Mark Strong, Pierfrancesco Favino, Tom Wilkinson, Jeff Daniels, Sienna Miller, Connie Nielsen, Shea Whigham, Giancarlo Giannini, Hiroyuki Sanada., Shea Whigham. (English, Japanese, Italian, French, German, Dutch dialogue)
Directed by: Ben Lewin
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Running Time: 1 hr. 38. Min.
MPAA Rating: R for some sexuality, violence and language
Original Theatrical Release: June 22, 2018
Video Release Date: October 2, 2018
Language: English, German
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Audio
Video: Widescreen
Subtitles: English
Number of Discs: 1 disc
Distributed by: Paramount Home Media Distribution
Released Formats: DVD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
