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Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2016)

Leonardo DiCaprio occupies the role of Frank Abagnale with such ease that it is easy to forget that he is just a teen at the beginning - and barely an adult when it is over. I suppose it is easy for him to forget this too; slipping into these alternate identities lets him live the life he wants, get back the money they took from his father, and escape from a broken family. When he mimics the famous two mice in a bucket of milk speech when asked to say grace, it is funny, but also contains a hint of melancholy like Walken's sparse appearances throughout his con life. The suit, the cadillac, the money...all just items to show off to his father, to show that he has made it, to try and piece this family back together again. How many windows has he peered into to see happy Christmas celebrations? How many half-sisters has he waved at?
Momentarily, he distracts himself with the thing he is good at. A little folded note, a little substitute teacher impersonation. Then onto bigger things, and although we know how the story ends, we are nevertheless fascinated. Spielberg's direction is visually captivating - the peering reveal over to the bathtub full of model air-planes, the swing across to the frightened bank teller informing her manager (to signal one plan that doesn't work - so he learns and adjusts his cons), the way he racks focus from the fine print of the check to DiCaprio to indicate just how precise and alluring his charms and deflections are. Williams is great too - the way he builds momentum and confidence as Frank becomes more adept, and twinkles when we see closeups of the favourite trick that he inherited from his father. Completing the effect are those endearing voice-overs of faux-success and worldly experience to his father - no doubt a very important part of his motive is to impress him.
This is one of DiCaprio's better performances. He doesn't have a whole lot of emotional range to work with (for example, the real Abagnale left his medical supervisor position because he realised he was putting lives at stake - in the film it is completely comedic) and even when he does emote it is somewhat an act - see the bait and switch where he seems to confess to Roger Strong, but becomes a soppy romantic instead. His best moment is the way he slides effortlessly into the Secret Service Agent 'Barry Allen' only after a tiny second of realisation of what he has been caught in - the way his approach disarms Hanratty so subtly ("Here, take my whole wallet"), the way he mimics his tactics to build authenticity ("Mind if I see some identification") and how he is able to uses his own knowledge to pose as someone who has been diligently chasing himself down. Hanks' Hanratty is decent as the straight man who is initially consumed by the chase; there are some juvenile moments including a harsh cackle over the phone at Christmas which doesn't quite work because Hanks is not mean enough for it and because their dynamic works so much better when they are ribbing and teasing - Hanratty not falling for his whole sickness routine in jail, and constantly trying to pry his methods for passing the bar exam.
It even manages to be a little poignant at the end between the two. Feeling suffocated by the never-ending sentence to bust the scams he once mastered, he takes off and even makes it to the airport to seek that life of lies that seems to be easier than confronting the truth; the death of his father, and the new marriage and family of his mother. Hanratty is all but ready to let him go, but reminds him that no one will be chasing this time. Perhaps he was right when he realised that Abagnale had no one to call at Christmas. DiCaprio's frenzied reaction to seeing him deep in hiding in France suggests that he is most at ease constantly moving from place to place and busying himself with the thrill of the chase. Even James Bond had to call it a day when his time was up, and Frank is now ready to accept it.