Inspiring.

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2013)

This review contains spoilers. - I've watched this movie several times. I remember seeing it the first time. Being astounded by the brilliance of DiCaprio's character and by the intelligent storytelling, I directly decided to write this review.

Frank is a rebel. He thinks outside the box and therefore realizes the weakness of the system. With a morally questionable attitude towards authority and routine, he decides to live a dangerous and permanently altering life. The life of a genius, however a liar - an ambivalent personality whose actions can be evaluated and assessed controversially.
The story is developed nicely. Starting with a funny exposition in which Frank's unusual, yet clever behavior is shown, Spielberg continues by illustrating the inciting incident to a rare career. A divorce! This is the aspect of this movie that is the most interesting one. Divorces have become such a regular thing. Why would such a daily happening event effect so greatly on an intelligent person? This circumstance can only be reasoned by the idiosyncrasies of Frank Abergnale's character. Although his brilliance and his rebellion let him appear as an emotionally cold, completely rational person, the cause of all his decisions lays in a very psychological and emotional event. Suddenly this movie seems to be rather a psychological study on an insurrectionist, than a regular crime story.
This is the point where Hanks' character comes into play. This character implies antagonism, thus adds a whole amount of suspense to the story. Let me ignore all the often discussed coincidental scenes of confrontation in this film at that point. Hanks' occurrence adds a duality to the story. And at the end, somehow Hanks and DiCaprio become friends and partners. Despite the fact that they act against each other, there never is hatred or greed in their relationship. They just play their social roles as a rebel and as a detective. It's a socially required rivalry. This is also the reason for which they are able to peacefully work together at the end. The movie documents the genesis of a rare friendship, which was used to be avoided by the existence of social roles.
I comprehend this movie as a sociological study, due to the fact that it shows extraordinary characters in typical social roles, as well as social dynamics that we all know.
Visually this movie is well made. Well directed, well written, well acted - but cinematically there is no specialty that needs to be pointed out especially. The brilliance of this piece consists in the topic it deals with.
Thanks for reading, watch this movie and relate yourself to the characters and it will inspire you!