Can we reward Spielberg with `Chicago's' Oscar for releasing two purely entertaining films in the same year?

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2003)

Remind me again why America has such lofty expectations of Steven Spielberg but will gladly sit through any of the now rotten George Lucas films? Our expectations are so high that Spielberg goes out and makes his most purely entertaining film in a long time (`Catch Me If You Can') and one of his absolute best intellectual films ever (`Minority Report') in the same year but finds the Academy rooting for the sophomoric `Chicago.' Truly perplexing.
Possible Spoilers
That said, `Catch Me If You Can' is the most fun I've had at the cinema in years and like most Spielberg films appeals to everyone so as to maximize profit. `Everyone' refers to the dumbed-down American public who adore retread sequels, franchise films, and any film with the words Julia Roberts. And this is the brilliance of Spielberg who brings the masses of dumbed-down Americans together with the silent minority of intelligent film-goers who won't see a movie with less than 3 stars. `Catch Me If You Can' is a perfect film for everyone and so entertaining that I found myself more excited than I had been earlier that day at a screening of the self-indulgent `Adaptation.'
Who knew that Leonardo DiCaprio could act? I sure didn't after the snorefest that was `Titanic' but Spielberg has a way of urging even the most awful actor toward brilliance. As Frank Abagnale Jr. Dicaprio is very good at making us like this con-man and indeed, hoping that he will get away with all of his crimes. Tom Hanks is fairly pedestrian here, perhaps he's out of revelations, but Christopher Walken is pure magic as always. In one scene he and Frank Jr. make eye contact and there is a secretive smile that they share as he congratulates his son on getting away with impersonating a French teacher. Scenes with Frank's future wife, a nurse, where she is more upset that he's not a Lutheran than anything else are pure magic. A chance meeting in Frank's hotel room with Detective Hanratty (Hanks) is smart and fun.
Most intriguing is the fact that Spielberg spent very little time shooting `Catch Me If You Can' and in the course of one year managed to release two incredibly memorable films. Sure `Catch Me If You Can' doesn't add anything to the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. but a story as exciting as his doesn't need any additions, its a true story after all. Still, I can't imagine any other director bringing as much to the film as Spielberg does with his fun John Williams beginning to the scenes at Miami International Airport with the flight attendants and their cute powder blue uniforms. This is one of the few directors that you can currently look to for originality and excitement. `E.T.' was based on a dream after all and I can't forget those spiders crawling across the floor in `Minority Report'. Even his biggest failure `Artificial Intelligence' was unique and well-crafted. The other directors out there are on a course of making bad sequels for profit and making toilet humor some sort of revelation. You have to hand it to Spielberg for taking an extra step.
10/10