Stay Awake If You Can

Rating: 2/10 (28 December 2002)

Perversely, this movie would actually have to be better for me to dislike it. As it is, it's just too boring to care about. Good cast and crew, likeable production values, no complaints there - but there's also no story, no believability, no suspense, no interest, no ANYTHING.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a one note performance in which he looks cute (whoa - THERE'S an Oscar caliber stretch, huh?) but tells us nothing about the character. Tom Hanks apparently decided to give nothing to this performance except some extra time at an all-you-can eat buffet. He's a slightly chubby cop obsessed with catching Leo for no particular reason; he doesn't even dislike Leo, nor is anyone else in the FBI apparently even interested in catching this "master criminal."
But worst of all, Leo's character impersonates a doctor, a pilot, and a criminal attorney...and yet we don't see him get caught in a tight scrape even once. As this is a real life story, surely the real Frank Abagnale had many hilarious or suspensful "near misses" - so why have they all been cut from this film? Leonardo postures in costumes; Hanks follows at a walking pace (with virtually no police procedural techniques shown); no one particularly cares if Leo's character is ever caught or not. (Worse still, in the opening five minutes of the film, you ALREADY KNOW whether or not he got caught, and who (if anyone) caught him). Peg this one at "zero" on the old suspense meter.
This seemed like a not particularly well-done TV movie, done for not a particularly prestigious network. A definite disappointment for all involved (even John Williams' score is lame). I'd say to wait for this one to hit the 99Â¢ rental rack...and then "Catch It If You Must."