the four million dollar man

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2004)

This is a film I admired more than I enjoyed. I'm glad I saw it, and moreso that it was rented from a local library. Worth every penny. Also it strikes me as the kind of film my folks should absolutely see, and will enjoy more than I did.
But I did enjoy it somewhat. I mean it has a pretty fascinating story at its center (I had not read the original book, but might do so later.) In talking to a friend who did read that, or maybe he heard the book-on-tape, it is clear that changes made to the film presentation were significant. More people doing "based on a true story" should follow this example, as the changes honestly helped to advance the storytelling desired.
Quest for father, it worked for Joseph Campbell, and it works for Spielberg as well. And speaking of fathers, imagine having the luxury of Christopher Walken in a subordinate role as the absent biological father. I truly enjoy his verb-excising and pause-inserting talent, although it is rare to watch him and not think, "hey that's Christopher Walken."
Tom Hanks as the substitute father however is more malleable. I think his Boston accent comes and goes a little bit, but his uptight-as-John-Ashcroft attitude here was welcome...he goes one step further and slowly reveals a humane tenderness that normally does not turn up in such rigid rectitude. Add his absent family adds up in the equation.
Speaking of luxury, imagine having Martin Sheen in a largely disposable role, and Jennifer Garner as your cheap eye-candy. Well at $1000 a 1960 night, she ain't cheap, but you know what I'm saying. John Williams' music was different this time out, and I think stole the show more than Hanks as others allege. It did it with a breezy cool as easy as a snap. I likened it to more like something from Harry Partch meets Lou Harrison, then 60's soul jazz...but it was tremendous. It created as much playful suspense as the film needed all by itself.
Leonard DiCaprio, evidently one of the driving forces behind bringing this to the screen did not work so much for me. But I think a big part of his charisma was built from swoon power, indeed more often than not he's fatally charming some young femme. His Abegnale character rolls up unbelievable amounts of money, and I wonder if the drive of was more sexually sparked than the spiel we get here? A seventeen year-old plus stewardesses?? Smells like motivation.
I imagine it was fun for DiCaprio, or any actor, to play a con man. If we are all actors, maybe when we are being fake we are at our most true. No but, fun to pretend.
A con man relies on not only misdirection but of course, confidence. More emphasis is placed on the former here, especially with the hypnotic talisman of a locket on a necklace.
The story is more "Amazing" than all the stories Spielberg did for the TV series of that name lo these many years ago. For me it had some troubles, as a caper film means you have to have a criminal. And making a likable criminal is something that I'm less susceptible to than others.
On top of that, for this to be "I Was a Teenage Super Impostor" something did not click. DiCaprio's subterfuge never seemed so meticulously studied. I think we were supposed to buy a combination of some dumb luck and dumber FBI men. The ending intimates that Abegnale's skills were remarkably superior, but this is a film that did not want to get bogged down in the details of the crime.
So the deader the head for this, the more one can enjoy the fanciful flight. The film is glossy, the DVD has some nice input and certainly paints a likewise glossy portrait of Spielberg as a consummate craftsman. And a pretty genial guy. Or is he just a master fake?? No, I'm sure he's a gracious gent, and I think this is a nice oddball in his oeuvre.
Again for my mom and dad, I give this an 8/10, but on my own scale, it scores an even
5/10