Good entertainment but should have been better...

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2003)

There's a lot to like in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN--the handsome production values, the unobtrusive John Williams score, the performances by a first-rate cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Charlie Sheen, Christopher Walken) and the fact that it's based on the amazing story of a young man who fooled authorities with forgeries and impersonations over a long period of time.
Makes me recall the Tony Curtis film, THE GREAT IMPOSTER ('61), which told the same sort of amazing story with a lot more exuberance. Somehow events never seem quite so extraordinary in the way that they unfold in this reenactment of a true story. Only a few times does the urgency of DiCaprio's escape from the man chasing him really involve the audience. Don't ask me why--but there's not enough punch to the proceedings and perhaps this is where John Williams with his "nice" score fails to take the drama seriously. Instead of accompanying the more gripping moments with dramatic bursts of music, he instead goes for a quieter, sophisticated sound closer to the bland '60s sound of cocktail music. Somehow this deadens the impact or seriousness of the crimes being depicted and gives the whole movie a bland quality that is out of place. I never thought I'd be criticizing a John Williams score for being bland but so be it.
The performances can't be faulted--Tom Hanks is especially good as the F.B.I. man and DiCaprio does a highly competent job as the misguided youth. Christopher Walken makes the father an interesting character.
Nevertheless, it IS an amazing story--this man had to be brilliant to pull off what he did--in an age where counterfeit checks and IDs are scrutinized as carefully as they are most of the time, it seems highly unlikely that such a ruse could happen in the light of today's high security--or is it??