Entertaining and fast paced

Rating: 8/10 (5 June 2003)

Catch Me If You Can, the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. is compelling from the stylish opening credits to the very satisfying ending. I'll be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio  I want to hate the guy, but once in awhile he comes out with a performance like the one in this film and I have to admit that he really is a good actor. He convincingly portrays Abagnale, a teen who managed to outrun the FBI for years - all the while writing over 4 million dollars in bad checks, posing as an airline co-pilot, a physician and an attorney. Throughout the film, he is pursued by Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent played by Tom Hanks with whom he develops an interesting relationship.	While I admit to enjoying Spielberg's action and effects-driven films, I also enjoy the smaller pictures he produces as well. This film is a prime example. I completely forgot this was a Spielberg picture, something I consider to be a great compliment. When a director doesn't have a defining style, it shows an immense amount of talent, and more importantly, lacks the predictability that we see all too often in Hollywood today, especially in the case of someone with such a storied and lengthy repertoire as Spielberg. Granted, Spielberg had the good fortune to have an excellent script and three fantastic actors (DiCaprio, Hanks and Walken) to work with, but the direction is practically flawless in that there are no slow moments; everything happens for a reason and is integral to the progression of the plot. It goes without saying that a film that is close to two and a half hours in length can have lulls, or seem to be too long, but I found that I did not consider the length once while viewing it.
Perhaps I've become so jaded after seeing so many movies, but I find that more often than not that I go into a film thinking that it isn't going to be as good as I had heard or expected. Once again, I've thankfully proven myself wrong with this film. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
--Shelly