The Catcher Was a Spy (2018) [Movie Review]

Dir: Ben Lewin

Starring:  Paul Rudd

Dur: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Biographical Drama

PG: A bit of foul language. One intimate scene though no nudity is shown.

Rating: 3/10

The film is based on the book of the same name written by Nicholas Dawidoff, which tells the true story of Moe Berg, a baseball veteran who joins the American secret service and plays an instrumental role in discovering Germany’s nuclear stand. I’m certain the book is far more gripping then the film, which turns out to be a poor show of plot and dialogue, offering the actors little backing but expecting them to deliver dazzling performances. It’s little wonder that nearly every actor struggles to breathe life into their otherwise painfully dull characters.

Thankfully the film doesn’t exceed an hour and a half but even that feels a bit stretched. The plot is rather simplistic and the drama is pale. Probably the only thing that sells this film is its tag ‘Based on a True Story’. Honestly, that’s the only reason I watched it. But I must say they put out a misleading trailer. Great actors like Paul Rudd and Sienna Miller were wasted and amounted to being mere eye candy and box office boosters. An absolutely out-of-place and unnecessary intimate scene was thrown in probably with the intention of yanking the attention of a puerile audience.

The film struggled to make a good impression and was not really worth its making. I understand that the stories of heroes need to be told but I think the publication of the book fulfilled that need; releasing this film was a ‘cheap’ stunt at making money.