The Catcher Was a Spy

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.

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.

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.

(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.

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.

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.