The Catcher Was a Spy (2018)

A major league baseball player, Moe Berg, lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services.

Director:

Ben Lewin

Writers:

Robert Rodat, Nicholas Dawidoff (based upon the book: Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by)

Stars:

Paul Rudd, Pierfrancesco Favino, Tom Wilkinson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Rudd	...	Moe Berg
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Martinuzzi
Tom Wilkinson	...	Paul Scherrer
Connie Nielsen	...	Koranda
Anna Geislerová	...	Rathe
Mark Strong	...	Werner Heisenberg
Simon Perina	...	First Baseman Boston
John Schwab	...	Lefty Grove
Krystof Dupal	...	Second Baseman Boston
Jirí Vavrusa	...	Shortstop Boston
Shea Whigham	...	Joe Cronin
Bobby Schofield	...	Bill Dalton
Philip Lenkowsky	...	NYC Taxi Driver
Sienna Miller	...	Estella
Demetri Goritsas	...	Clifton Fadiman

Storyline

A major league baseball player, Moe Berg, lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services.

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Plot Keywords:

espionage | spy | baseball | baseball player | boston red sox | 

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Taglines:

Based on the True Story of Moe Berg

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality, violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Catcher Was a Spy

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$114,771, 24 June 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$712,438, 23 August 2018

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$875,102, 16 August 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

PalmStar Media, Animus Films, Serena Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Samuel Goudsmit is talking to Moe Berg about Werner Heisenberg, he says that his parents were deported from Holland to a concentration camp. He appealed to Heisenberg for help but got no reply. He says he doesn't know if his parents are dead are alive. The movie did not answer this question, but unfortunately his parents were indeed murdered in the concentration camp.

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Goofs

The scoreboard at Fenway Park shows white numbers for the scores of completed innings and a yellow number for score of an inning in progress. The announcer tells us its the top of the third with two outs. However, the scoreboard shows a blank for the top of the third inning when it should be showing a yellow "0".

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Quotes

William J. Donovan: You're an unusual man Mr. Berg, you speak 7 languages, you're an athlete, you're more than up to the physical requirements of the job...
Moe Berg: What job?

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Failed Oscar Bait Movies of 2018 (2019)

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Soundtracks

Our Love Is Young
Written by Andrea Fodor Litkei (as Andrea Litkei) and Ervin Litkei
Arranged by Zdenek Novak
Performed by Vojtech Dyk
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

Not a bad spy film at all.

It reminds me of the Steven Spielberg, Tom hanks collaboration, Bridge of Spies, but did not hit me as hard.

World war 2 was the type of war that all good Americans wanted to be a part of, so no surprise that a Major baseball player (our fav pastime) wanted to get in on the action.

Moe Berg was an over the hill baseball player who happen to have went to college and became a master of a lot of languages. Right there, he sounds like the type of spy they make TV shows out of, which is why I think this movie is so good.

Paul Rudd was good at playing this type of spy too. I felt it to be believable in the situation. Possible not that important, but I like it none the less. Not exactly James Bond but Rudd used his overall charming and humorous persona to be the leading man this movie needs.

Good Watch.