Much better than I thought it would be

Rating: 9/10 (28 June 2003)

I had passed by "Catch Me If You Can" a number of times at the video rental place before finally grabbing it this weekend. From the ads I had seen for it when it first came out, I figured it would be kind of shallow, boring, "family" entertainment. I stand humbled and corrected.
I have a new appreciation for DiCaprio as an actor now, although his performance isn't Oscar-worthy, it is pretty damn good. Tom Hanks is OK, although I still can't quite figure out (a) what that accent is he's using (Boston?) and (b) where is he stationed? That seemed the biggest continuity problem to me. At first he seems like he's in New York or Washington, then maybe Atlanta, who knows? Minor point, however.
Spielberg does a great job telling this story and making you actually care about the characters; my only beef is that I think he could have explored Carl's family situation a little more. I can see why he didn't, however, and, frankly, it doesn't distract from the movie too much. I would give this a 10, but Spielberg must still pay penance for that horrendous "A.I."