Worth catching

Rating: 7/10 (23 March 2010)

Frank Abagnale Jr. (Di Caprio) makes his way across America posing as a lawyer, a pilot, a doctor whilst all the while being chased by Carl Hanratty (Hanks) Based on the true story of conman Frank Abagnale Jr. this ambitious crime caper is a turn for excitement harmless joy that encodes spurts of comedy in a dramatic construction of a man looking for a sense of mayhem and wealth, to live in his father's footsteps.
Flowing with the energy you would expect from a Spielberg project alongside Oscar nominated scorer John Williams you would expect a ferocious appetite of crime shindigs and sharp tantalising scenarios across America and for the most part we see a relaxing and remarkable story that is hard and equally remarkable to believe really happened.
Leo Di Caprio, in his first paring with Spielberg, stars as central character Frank, giving the conman an elusive personality whilst aiming to be naïve of the difficulties at home between his parents. Encoding uses of his father's charm and wit may seem corny but the resemblance between Di Caprio and Oscar nominated Christopher Walken is mirror like, giving the film a formidable consistency.
Tom Hanks, in more of a supporting role, has his moments as the stubborn and driven FBI agent determined to catch Frank. Hanks uses the character's intelligence to his advantage to make his acts seem fruitless whilst all the while maintaining a key objective. Hanks even slides in some delicious deadpan expressions, the knock knock joke in the car for one arguably one of Hanks best ever comedy moments, which is quite something given the American's CV.
The plot is the main drawback of the film's potential. Whilst the story itself is based on true events, there feels a lack of consistent believability, which is purely down to the messy structure placed upon it. Starting on a game show, it jumps back to Frank's youth, then to prison then forward to school years, then his fleeing, then forward to present and so forth and because of these Kangaroo style jumps there feels a reluctance to let us into the moment of the character and situation. We are just getting used to Frank being a pilot when the film shunts us to present day dealings and it is a real pain as if this film was portrayed in chronological order we would have had a flawless foundation for an endless chase without knowing the outcome.
Williams' score is brilliant, especially the title sequence and Oscar nominated was a truly deserved. The title sequence matches the feel of the music so poignantly we are instantly engaged and ready for the off.
The film collaborates usage of career mastery and unanswered questions to the eventual finale, that is worth catching and as mentioned, had this film gone from past to present with no flash back/forwards it would have been perfect. As it is, this is a charming often funny crime drama that is an enjoyable ride of a true story.