Paul Rudd seems to be veering away from his comedy roots and dipping his prolific toes into the creative waters of fresh genres. One good example of that is his latest flick based on a true story called The Catcher Was A Spy. Obviously the polysyllabic title means it’s not a blockbuster movie from a well-known production house, but rather a more thoughtful film from PalmStar Media and IFC Films.
The story sees Rudd occupying the role of real life baseball player Moe Berg, going from being a erudite catcher with a penchant for linguistics, to a spy for the O.S.S.
Rudd must train to fight, train to shoot, and train to kill on a mission that sees him investigating a German fission engineer named Werner Heisenberg, played by Mark Strong, to see if he poses a threat to the United States. If Heisenberg is a threat, Burg is tasked with killing him. It seems like a typical espionage spy story set during World War II and featuring an all-star cast, including Jeff Daniels, Guy Pearce, and Sienna Miller.
You can check out the trailer below, courtesy of Movie Trailers Source.
At first I thought the trailer was giving way too much away, but as the two and a half minute promotional montage played on, it actually setup a very interesting premise when Rudd’s character poses a question of what would happen if he were able to convince Mark Strong to defect instead of having to kill him?
Instead of being an assassination tale, it turns into a more complex scenario in which multi-layered characters weigh and gauge their motivations against the better interests of their homeland.
Visually the film has a distinct look as a period piece, and it appears to be one of those slow-burn spy thrillers for a mature audience.
Anyone familiar with Heisenberg already knows the outcome of this particular story, but the way it’s framed here in the trailer and the strong supporting casts would probably make it worth a watch. Also, the most important thing about it all is that it appears to adhere to the true historical nature of the era and doesn’t shoehorn in any multiculturalism or diversity in order to meet quotas. This should make moviegoers very pleased with the final results of The Catcher Was A Spy when it hits theaters on July 19th this summer.
