Fun and Exciting with Heart to Spare

Rating: 9/10 (3 December 2018)

Frank Abagnale's exploits are the epitome of the phrase 'the truth is stranger than fiction'. So it was only natural Hollywood would want to turn his story into a film. After going through David Fincher and Gore Verbinski, Steven Spielberg took it on and delivered probably one of his best films from the 2000s, a fun and exciting caper that nonetheless knows when to tug the heartstrings.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Abagnale, a teenager who runs away from home when his parents divorce and proceeds to impersonate a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer with few people being the wiser, cashing forged cheques worth millions in the process (anyone wondering why the then-27 year-old DiCaprio was the teenage Abagnale, the real-life Abagnale was noted for looking older than he was really, which greatly aided his cons).
Tom Hanks is Carl Hanratty, the FBI Agent investigating Abagnale's cheque fraud (Hanratty was based on multiple agents involved in the Abagnale case, including John Shea, who Abagnale later befriended). Hanratty insists that cheque fraud is serious to his bosses, and he will capture Abagnale eventually.
Also appearing, before her rise to fame, is Amy Adams as Abagnale's chief love interest, Brenda Strong; Martin Sheen as Brenda's father; and Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale Sr., Frank's father, who encourages his son to continue his activities as revenge for his treatment by the government owing to his IRS problems.
The score by John Williams is light and jazzy, with Williams' influence from mentor Henry Mancini highlighted more than ever and oh-so-memorable. The script by Jeff Nathanson is also up-to-scratch, adapting Frank's most audacious antics faithfully while still changing some things for dramatic effect (or necessity: Frank's story is most likely so convoluted a word-for-word adaptation could never work). And Steven Spielberg's direction and handling anything but messy: hot off science fiction thriller Minority Report, he has energy enough to create a thrilling, adventurous and amazing.
Bottom line: Catch Me If You Can is exciting, enjoyable, and superbly put together for a sly and breezy film that one can watch over and over again.