A second go-round for Moe Berg -- in Aviva Kempner's doc, THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE

That erstwhile documentarian Aviva Kempner (pictured below) is making her second foray (after her excellent The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg) into baseball documentaries with her newest work, THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE, which explores the life and times of Moe Berg, another Jewish baseball player -- who also doubled as a surprising multi-field savant speaking several languages fluently and then tripled as an American spy during the Second World War.

Unfortunately, the documentary follows fairly hard on the heels of last year's excellent narrative movie about the same character and time period, The Catcher Was a Spy, which proved one of those increasingly rare American independent films that actually found somewhat of an audience. Its starrier cast (with Paul Rudd playing Berg), bigger budget and intrinsically fascinating story no doubt helped.

Interestingly enough, the folk who enjoyed The Catcher Was a Spy will probably want to see this new film, too, because, in many cases, it probes Berg's life (the catcher/ spy is shown on poster, top, and below, left) in much closer detail.

While the more elusive narrative version suggested and alluded, this documentary lays in it all out in spades: what Berg most likely did on his many trips abroad (for both "goodwill" baseball purposes and for spying), how his intelligence excelled so famously on a popular radio show of the time, and how he took care to help encourage the rookie baseball players (as above) -- as well as getting to know and pal around with the "greats" like Babe Ruth (I believe that's the "Babe" at left, below, with Berg at right, on a trip to Japan).

What the documentary does not go into at all is Berg's bi-sexuality, which the narrative version covered quite beautifully and, again, allusively. All four of Ms Kempner's documentaries that TrustMovies has seen (which include Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg! and, her best work so far, Rosenwald) are primarily meant to create Jewish heroes, which indeed they do. To this end, much that might be considered as "negative" is left out. You have only to read the relatively brief Wikipedia description of Moe Berg to find some of less appealing aspects of his character.

Interestingly, Berg's remaining living family members -- as well as other talking heads (there's one above) -- speak of him here only with seeming huge respect and admiration. Yet, according to Wikipedia, Berg's brother, with whom he lived during his later years, actually evicted Moe from his home, after which Moe lived with his sister. And although, for the final 20 years of his life, Berg was unable to find any employment, you won't hear that mentioned in this documentary, either.

Via the use of archival photos and film, Kempner also offers us a nice recreation of the WWII time period as seen in America. I do wish, however, that she had not used quite so many clips from old narrative movies as stand-ins for what is being talked about on-screen.

As interesting and enjoyable -- if a tad too lopsided toward the positive -- as is this new Berg exploration, I'd still recommend you view The Catcher Was a Spy first (you can find it on home video/digital), for its rich, allusive view of this very interesting -- and very elusive -- character, before honing in on the much more detailed but standardized look that The Spy Behind Home Plate provides.

The documentary, arriving via The Ciesla Foundation and running 101 minutes, opens this Friday, June 21, in the South Florida area: in Miami at the AMC Aventura 24, in Tamarac at The Last Picture Show, In Fort Lauderdale in The Classic Gateway, in Boca Raton at the Regal Shadowood and Living Room Theaters, and at The Movies of Delray and The Movies of Lake Worth.

Ben Lewin's THE CATCHER WAS A SPY proves classy, old-fashioned, WWII espionage fun

Based on a real-life baseball player named Moe Berg (of whom TrustMovies had never heard but is very happy to have now made his acquaintance), THE CATCHER WAS A SPY proves a surprising and welcome throwback to the days of World War II and those exciting, old-fashioned, well-plotted espionage thrillers that we rarely see any longer.

As directed by Ben Lewin and written by Robert Rodat (from the book by Nicholas Dawidoff), the movie proves a classy, intelligent, gorgeously-mounted treat.

With a spot-on production design by Oscar-winner Luciana Arrighi in which every scene appears real and right -- from the gorgeous period interiors to the bombed-out ruins in which some exciting and suspenseful combat takes place -- the look of this film seems just about perfect without ever calling undue attention to itself: every production designer's dream, I should think.

For his part, Mr. Lewin (shown at right, who a few years back gave us that wonderful movie The Sessions) also gets it all correct. He is able to direct with a firm, fine hand everything from an exciting action sequence to a philosophical discussion of murder and patriotism; from a hot 'n heavy hetero sex scene to a quiet but deeply felt suggestion of homosexual love; from a baseball game to a blunt-force beating.

While I suppose there is nothing "award-winning" here, still, what a pleasure it is to see first-class craftsmanship in writing, directing, acting, editing, cinematography and production design come together so very well. In the starring role of Moe Berg, we have that fine actor Paul Rudd (shown above and below), at last given a role that allows him to shine in ways we've seldom seen. Rudd makes a particularly believable-looking 1930s-40s character, with a face and body that's near-perfectly "period."

From what we see and learn here, Moe Berg was a very private man: a non-religious Jew who didn't even feel particularly "Jewish," evidently bi-sexual (in a time when this was anything but accepted), and a fellow who felt at home almost nowhere except in a library or on the baseball field. Mr. Rudd brings all of this to exceedingly quiet-but-felt life. He is on screen in (I think) literally every scene, which forces the rest of the excellent ensemble cast to take a decided back seat in the proceedings.

Yet, because that ensemble consists of terrific actors such as Jeff Daniels, Mark Strong, Paul Giamatti, Sienna Miller (above, left), Tom Wilkinson, Sanada Hiroyuki, Giancarlo Giannini and Pierfrancesco Favino (below, right), each of their roles comes strongly, if briefly, to life. (One does wish that Ms Miller might be given roles a little more important and demanding, but then this is definitely the kind of male-centric movie, in which women, if they appear at all, are simply "helpmeets" to the men.)

Yet the story is indeed a crackerjack one: a ball-playing civilian recruited into the OSS and asked to possibly kill one of Germany's finest and most heralded scientists. Lewin and Rodat begin at the climax then circle back to an earlier time, as we learn Moe Berg's history in both baseball and spying. It makes for a very good yarn; how true it is to the facts I can't say, but as we move along, events and characters tumble over each over with proper pacing and believability.

In the end, the question of the need to murder for your country is given a more-than-decent workout. In this age of drone murders (even of American citizens by the American government) and their endless collateral damage, this single important incident provides a very good point at which to look back and take stock.

From IFC Films and running a just-right 98 minutes, The Catcher Was a Spy, opens this Friday, June 22, in New York City (at the IFC Center) and Los Angeles (at Laemmle's Monica Film Center, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5).  Here in South Florida, the film is playing now at the Movies of Delray and Lake Worth. Simultaneously, the movie will also be available via VOD.