Entertaining cat and mouse antics

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2019)

With just $25 dollars to his name, Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo Di Caprio) does the seemingly impossible and manages to pose as a doctor, lawyer and a pilot all with no formal training all the while whilst defrauding banks across the USA out of millions of dollars. However, hot on his heels is moody FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) who doggedly pursues Abagnale in order to bring him to justice...
Based on Frank Abagnale Jr's own book, Spielberg delivers Catch Me If You Can with a mostly light-hearted playful feel (which given the source material was arguably the best way to pitch it). Di Caprio does a wonderful job in bringing Abagnale Jr to life (he's charming and charismatic but with a sympathetic edge - he's trying to help his family which never renders him unlikeable at any point). Hanks has a trickier job in his role as a rather dry FBI Agent, but at times this is used to good effect when his attempts at being funny hit a brick wall. Amy Adams is the real surprise here as the dim-witted love interest to Abagnale and even a cynic like me felt some sympathy towards her later in the film.
As I've already mentioned, the light-hearted and playful tone is the film's biggest asset and this is what ensures that the film remains entertaining and enjoyable. Abagnale's elaborate ploys and Houdini like escapology are certainly imaginative and for me the film rarely misses a beat (despite its generous 120+ minute running time).
Given the fact that the real Frank Abagnale co-wrote the script and Spielberg directed the film I did wonder if the film may have been slightly embellished in the name of entertainment i.e were the FBI really that incompetent and did Abagnale really manage to impersonate pilots, doctors and lawyers with such ease? To be honest when the film ended, I didn't really care and the aforementioned points are more observations than criticisms.
At the end of the day the film was fun and to me that was what ultimately mattered.