Excellent Movie!

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2004)

Catch Me If You Can is a very fine take on a true story. It brings together three of Hollywood's biggest names  Di Caprio, Hanks and Spielberg  in a collaboration that is certainly no pretender.
Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding, "Catch Me If You Can" is the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a teenage boy growing up in 1960s New York who ran away from home following his parent's divorce and made a living out of slyly and meticulously impersonating a doctor, a co-pilot for Pan Am airlines, and a lawyer. Hot on his trail but seemingly always one step behind is FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who grows to admire and respect Frank's clear brilliance despite having only met him once. Told in elongated flashbacks as Frank is being escorted by Hanratty to an American prison, Frank had cashed more than $2.5 million in fraudulent checks around the world and in all fifty states by the time he was caught at the age of 19.
As if Spielberg hasn't shown himself to be the foremost American cinematic storyteller yet, Catch Me If You Can solidifies his position. This is the kind of film that reminds you of the absolute enjoyment of watching a great story in the hands of a great director and cast working with a love for the cinema that radiates from off the screen. But let's get one thing straight: Spielberg doesn't automatically make great movies because he's a great director; he's a great director because he has the ability to make great movies. Catch Me If You Can is one of them.
Overall: 9.5/10