The Spy Behind Home Plate

Despite the abundance and thoroughness of the historical research and on-camera interviews, the film never fully completes its picture of [Moe] Berg.

Reaching too hard for nostalgia, the distracting wall-to-wall soundtrack plays like a K-Tel collection of wartime hits. And for every talking head author, there's a copy of their book hogging the frame. A fascinating story nonetheless.

The film doesn't take an extra step towards cinematic showiness, nor does it glamorize or sensationalize Berg's life. It's just a nice time talking about World War II and baseball, sharing stories and retelling old jokes.

Seeing the story played out with reams of interviews and archival footage is so much better. It makes the unbelievable believable.

They don't make baseball players like Moe Berg anymore. Judging by Aviva Kempner's authoritative and engrossing documentary "The Spy Behind Home Plate," they likely never did.

Moe Berg has been the subject of several biographies but I confess that his story was new to me. I found it mesmerizing and can't think of another public figure whose biography contains so many surprises and revelations.

The considerable footage of Berg in both Japan and Europe (before and during the war) expand the doc into a kind of personal and period travelogue.

It's an amazing tale; Berg seems like the lovingly-crafted hero of a Michael Chabon novel. Kempner spins it straightforwardly and briskly, with enthusiastic talking heads and deftly-edited archival footage.

Even though there's a lot to take in, Kempner divvies out the information in a way that's logical and easy to follow.

Berg's life was indeed a fantastic one, feeling like something out of fiction yet completely true. Kempner's documentary is a welcome, fuller exploration...