Spielberg having fun

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2008)

Steven Spielberg seems to have had some fun doing this movie, and he is trying to make the viewers feel the fun too. I am no big fan of the true crime stories, but this is the second I saw recently (the other was the more recent 'Zodiac') that I really liked.
The charm of the movie lies mostly in the recreation of the 60s with techniques of the 60s movies and some quotes from the James Bond movies for example, all combined with the fine story telling skills of Spielberg. Added here is the excellent performance of Leonardo DiCaprio which I have quite mixed feelings about generally but who fits here perfectly playing at 28 the role of a teenager who incarnates 28 years old characters. Together with Leo we can see Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, whose relationships with him as the detective following him to obsession and as his father are key in the logic of the character and of the film.
Spielberg is now famous and proved everything he had to prove. In the last ten years he tried different genres, and seems to do a good job in most of them. The one thing that we may lose is who is the real Spielberg, what is this strong voice trying to say. For this we need to go back to the 70s and the 80s, or maybe see again 'Schindler's List'. Between those we may also have some fun seeing a fun movie like this one.