A Great Film

Rating: 9/10 (4 December 2013)

Catch Me if You Can is a fast-past adventure, but a major departure from Spielberg's usual films involving dinosaurs and aliens. Spielberg shows in this film that he is more than capable of creating an entertaining film without the use of expensive special effects. The film is a biographical true crime film depicting the life of conman and counterfeiter, Frank Abagnale. As a teenager, Abagnale began a crime spree that would result in him cashing over $2.5 million in fraudulent checks and take on the false identities of a pilot, pediatrician, lawyer and college professor. In the film, Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) begins his crime spree after his parent's divorce. When he is faced with deciding which parent will retain custody he decides to run away. Throughout the film, Abagnale uses various identities including that of a pilot, doctor, and lawyer to facilitate his check cashing schemes. It's clear that Abagnale hopes that with enough money he can somehow reunite his separated parents. Throughout the narrative, Abagnale is hounded by FBI agent, Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who grows a begrudging respect for the young con artist. The development of their relationship is very believable and adds a lot of depth to the overall narrative of the story. Leonardo DiCaprio masterfully takes on the challenging role of Abagnale simultaneously illustrating to the audience Abagnale's genius (albeit misguided) and his naivety regarding his family. Christopher Walken provides great acting as Abagnale's father while Tom Hanks provides his usual great acting acumen portraying an FBI agent who becomes a father figure to the troubled Frank Abagnale. If there is one aspect of where the film fails is its failure to truly analyze the real Frank Abagnale's motives. The motivations of Abagnale are romanticized throughout the film as a young boy who naively believe he can bring his parents back together. The real Abagnale wasn't so innocent and was far more motivated by women and using his ill-gotten wealth to meet beautiful young women all over the world. This weakness is rather small and takes away none of the entertainment value that the film has to offer. This film is incredibly well acted and is a rare true crime film that deviates from the expected blood and gore of the drama usual of the genre.