The Catcher Was a Spy(2018)

Plot Summary

• Moe Berg (Paul Rudd), a 15-year baseball veteran, joins the war effort as a spy to beat Nazi Germany in the race to build the first atomic bomb. In 1938, Germans split the atom for the first time and the race for the bomb is on. Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) is a German Nobel prize winning Physicist in charge of delivering the bomb. In response US sent Moe berg to assassinate him.In 1936, Moe plays for Boston Red Sox and has good intuition. His coach Joe Cronin (Shea Whigham) wants Moe to retire. His team-mates secretly think he is queer. He is dating & having sex with Estella Huni (Sienna Miller) secretly. Moe is educated, with degrees from Princeton, Columbia University and a top college in France. Estella is angry that Moe doesn't publicly acknowledge his relationship with her.On a tour to Japan Moe is approached by Kawabata (Hiroyuki Sanada). Moe has sexual relations with Kawabata during his tour. Moe also films Japanese installations. In Dec 1941 US declares war on Japan after Pearl Harbour. Moe approached Director of OSS Bill Donovan (Jeff Daniels) and shows him his films of Jap installations. Bill recruits Moe even though Moe refuses to tell Bill if he is a queer or not. Bill introduces Moe to Robert Furman (Guy Pearce) and Samuel Goudsmit (Paul Giamatti), who tell him about the German atom bomb project and Heisenberg. Heisenberg is missing and the only person whom he is in touch is Professor Edoardo Amaldi (Giancarlo Giannini) who is in an Italian town, about to be overtaken by allied forces.On the way to Italy, Samuel tells Moe how he met Heisenberg, who at the time wanted to save German Science from Nazis. Samuel is not sure if Heisenberg will actually deliver the bomb to Nazis even though Samuel is 100% sure that he is capable of it. The trio save Edoardo from retreating German forces. Edoardo tells Moe that if Heisenberg wanted to finish the bomb, he would have done it by now. All progress notes taken from Edoardo indicate that Heisenberg is deliberately stalling progress. Despite Brits confirming that in their view there is no German bomb, Bill gives the order to assassinate Heisenberg. Moe speculates that Heisenberg is secretly helping the allies, but is over-ruled.Samuel knows that Heisenberg will attend a conference in Zurich upon the invitation of his friend Paul Scherrer (Tom Wilkinson). Moe is smuggled into Zurich and is invited to a party by Scherrer which Heisenberg is slated to attend. Heisenberg correctly surmises that Moe is an US agent and is there to kill him. Moe corners Heisenberg on a bridge, but quickly determines that Heisenberg has no intention of helping Germany win the war. Moe lets him go.There was never a German bomb Moe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But he didn't accept. After the war Heisenberg revealed the location of all of Germany's heavy water stockpile to the allies. Moe and Estella never re-united. Estella married in 1945, but Moe remained a bachelor.

Storyline

• Moe Berg goes undercover in World War II Europe for the Office of Strategic Services. This stranger-than-fiction espionage thriller from director Ben Lewin (The Sessions) brings to life the incredible true story of Moe Berg (Rudd), the professional baseball player who became a World War II spy. A Jewish, Princeton-educated, multilingual catcher for the Boston Red Sox, the enigmatic Berg was enlisted by the US government to go behind enemy lines and assassinate the Nazi's chief nuclear scientist before the Germans could develop an atomic bomb.