One To Keep You Engaged

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2013)

.The inspiration of the movie "Catch Me If You Can" must have lingered in director Steven Spielberg's mind for decades after knowing the amazing misadventures our protagonist Frank Abagnale Jr. encountered throughout his very highly interesting life. Spielberg who as a youth in the 1960's used to get past security at Universal Studios just to sneak in and marvel at the art of filmmaking.
Leonardo Di Caprio as Frank Abagnale Jr. is seen in the midst interviewing a Pan American supervisor to get a full report on the careers of airplane pilots for the purpose of writing an article for his high school paper. What's really going on is he's seeking knowledge on the many activities Pan Am pilots as he tries to successfully do everything he could to mimic them. Along with his savvy ways of impressions and conjuring up bogus cheques, the FBI is left high and dry as Abagnale Jr. leaks out millions of dollars from the banks. His pilot uniform gives him the advantage to cash in cheques globally.
Christopher Walken is Frank Abagnale Sr. who at one time was a thriving businessman from New Rochelle, New York and is now been reduced to eating very little but his pride. The Internal Revenue Services has been giving him hell which resulted in him owing them a bucket load of cash. The Abagnales must leave their posh mansion to a small low budgeted apartment. If that wasn't bad enough, Frank Sr.'s Franch wife for many years has added flames to the fumes by divorcing the poor hard-lucked individual and goes off to marry Frank Sr's attorney friend (James Brolin) and Frank Jr's world is taken upon him.
Frank Jr has often seen his father used shady techniques to get the upper hand of people, so he makes the attempt to follow his father's legacy and enhances a few tricks of his his very own. It's soon revealed that Frank Sr. was rather subtle in his manipulative tactics compared to Frank Jr. who seems like a prodigy in in white-collar criminal activity.
The real turning point of the movie that will keep viewers on the edge of your seat is the exciting battle of wits between the slick con-artist as he escapes going to jail while hard-nosed FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Ranks) is hot on his trail. and would love nothing more than to see this kid eat prison food. Carl is divorced, but he is truly devoted to his job and even tried to call him at his office on Christmas Eve. They develop a bit of fondness for one another as the film progresses as Carl is impressed with Frank Jr.'s methodical suave demeanor and the game of cat and mouse is proved effective because every chance the FBI catches on to him, he seems to full a fast one on them each time. Frank Jr. admires the devotion and never give up attitude that Carl possesses in his work ethic.
The film is based on the true escapades of Frank Jr. who unfortunately gets arrested in a very dramatized situation in France. However, the FBI later in the film admire the white-collar criminal's tactics to catch other potential criminal minds.
After Abagnale Jr. served his sentence,he no longer continued his craft and made a butt-load of cash as a security consulter in a corporate world. In a strange twist of irony, he owed millions all the while he ended up saving millions. I guess true stories do have happy endings.
Martin Sheen has a supporting role as the father whose daughter wants to marry Frank Jr. but does not seem fond of his daughter's request. The unpredictable kid with a plethora of numerous alter-egos meets her as he's seen as an E.R. medical intern and before you know it, he's now a young lawyer who passed the State Bar in Louisiana. And next we see him as an assistant junior attorney working in his future father-in0law's firm.