Pretty good, but not as good as all the "hype" made it out to be.

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2003)

We all know by now that CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is based on a real person, and his exploits as a doctor, lawyer, airpline copilot, and a few other things. For the most part the film is factual, as described in the DVD extras, including the real Frank Abagnale describing his experiences himself. DiCaprio and Hanks are both excellent in their respective roles. Hanks, especially, who usually seems to simply be playing various versions on himself, becomes a great character as the FBI agent chasing Frank Jr.

some SPOILERS follow - two main deviations in his story were used in the film. First, Frank Jr and his dad had several encounters during the film, but in real life Frank Jr never saw his father again after he ran away, and Frank Sr. died while Frank Jr. was in prison. That deviation worked well. The other deviation did not. In reality he was captured in France when locals reported seeing him in their community. In the film, there is a very implausible scene where the agents are looking at some of the counterfeit checks, quickly decide they had to come from Europe, and also quickly decide that he must be printing them in his mother's home town. They go there, they find him, he ends up in French jail. When I saw that scene, it bothered me, I didn't think it seemed plausible with regard to the rest of the film. And, when the DVD extras made it clear that this scene was fictional, it further reinforced my opinion that this was not a good deviation.
Still, it is a good, entertaining film, and the DVD is top quality, with a very interesting set of extras. After his release from prison time, Frank Jr. has gone straight, has contributed to techniques world-wide to reduce check and currancy fraud, and has made his real fortune as a consultant. He is in his late 50s today.