Jean-Pierre Volant/Tropes

Alistair, Varric, Anders, Jack, Don Draper, Chuck Bass, Dorian Gray, Tony Stark
*The Alcoholic
*The Barnum
*Consummate Liar
*Bunny-Ears Lawyer
*The Casanova
*The Charmer
*Hunk
*Like Parent, Like Spouse
*Mr.Fanservice
*Narcissist
*Really Gets Around
*You're Not My Mother (?)
*Beauty Is Bad
*Brilliant, But Lazy
*"Well Done, Son Guy
*Wicked Cultured
*Troubled, But Cute
*Smug Snake
*Sexy Man, Instant Harem
*Sharp-Dressed Man
*Quick Nip
*Millionaire Playboy
*The Hedonist
*The Chessmaster
*Young And In Charge
*Used To Be A Sweet Kid
*Too Much Alike
*Rich Idiot With No Day Job
*Manchild
* Anti-Hero: He gets his money through bootlegging.
* Byronic Hero: As a poor soldier, he fell hopelessly in love with beautiful socialite Daisy, who got married to her equal, a Jerk Jock Tom from Old Money, but he is determined to win her back. He would do—and does—anything for Daisy, who, sadly, doesn't quite deserve it. Gatsby heavily idealized and romanticized Daisy and everything about her. Gradually, it becomes obvious that Gatsby's opulent wealth comes from smuggling and organized crime, but he's more compassionate than most of the "law-abiding" characters.
* Catchphrase: He calls everyone "old sport." Lampshaded by Tom: Tom: That's a great expression of yours, isn't it? Gatsby: What is? Tom: All this "old sport" business. Where'd you pick that up?
* Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Got into World War I as an ordinary trooper. It took only about one year to be twice decorated for bravery and promoted to Major.
* Daydream Believer: Gatsby really believes all the stories in the magazines about millionaires. He believes in them so much that he chooses them as the basis of his Multiple-Choice Past as a Gentleman Adventurer, a Cliché Storm pastiche of various dime novels and pulps. Obviously, everyone thinks they are ridiculous… at first. But given Gatsby is The Charmer, he manages to make others believe, even for a little time, in his stories.
* Did Not Get the Girl: Twice over...and never quite admitting it either time.
* Dogged Nice Guy: He pines after Daisy for years. The fact that she's now married with a child doesn't discourage him and he's determined to win her love.
* Fatal Flaw: His inability to let go of the past, and his inability to realize that the woman he loves might not be who he thinks she is.
* Fake Brit: Within the context of the story, he affects a slight accent and a number of mannerisms to make himself seem more sophisticated and less Nouveau Riche.
* Last-Name Basis: Very rarely does anybody refer to him as "Jay."
* Lonely at the Top: Out of all the people that attend his parties Nick is the only person that actually seems to care about him.
* Lonely Funeral: Nobody shows up at his funeral except for Nick, his father, and the owl-eyed man from the library.
* Love Martyr: Everything Gatsby did to raise and spend his ill-gotten money was to capture Daisy's heart. He idealizes her to the extent that he's willing to take a manslaughter rap for her. Tragically enough, Gatsby never would have been happy, for he expected too much from Daisy, wanting (and in the infamous confrontation scene, forcing) her to be the perfect memory he obsessed over.
* Loving a Shadow: He was in love with the idea of Daisy and wanted everything to be the way it was when he first met her. Lampshaded by Nick in the narration: There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.
* Mr. Vice Guy: Gatsby has issues. Like, a lot of issues. The fact that he's a criminal only scratches the surface of this man's flaws as a human being. And yet, he's probably the nicest character in the book. No wonder Nick is so heartbroken by his death.
* Multiple-Choice Past: He and his party guests have all sorts of explanations of where he's from and how he made his money, some more ridiculous than others. Tom pulling the thread on some of his contradictory stories makes him backpedal a little bit.
* Mysterious Past: Hardly anybody knows the first thing about where he came from or how he got rich. It's not until near the end of the story that we get a full picture. He's a simple farm boy from North Dakota who dreamed of making it rich, served with distinction in WWI, went to Oxford for a few years, and made his millions with a string of shady business deals.
* No Celebrities Were Harmed: Gatsby is heavily based on Ohio bootlegger George Remus.
* Nouveau Riche: It's not entirely clear where he got his money from, but it's very clear that he wasn't born with it. It's strongly implied that he got it through less than legal means, and he primarily spends it on lavish parties and Conspicuous Consumption to try to impress Daisy. And he affects an accent and mannerisms to make himself seem more cultivated than he is.
* Posthumous Character: Died before Nick narrated the story.
* Rags to Riches: Born poor, he falls in love with a girl above his station and dedicates himself to making money to win her back. He's fantastically wealthy by the time the story starts and is famous for the lavish parties he constantly throws in his opulent mansion. Alas, his love still rejects him.
* Real Men Wear Pink: Gatsby wears a pink suit a couple times in the novel. Dismissed by Tom, of course.
* Riddle for the Ages: What was that other brand of crime he was mixed up in that Tom's sources didn't want to talk about? Another big sports fix? Contract killing? Nick will never know, and so neither will we.
* Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At sixteen, he ran away from home to pursue his dream of becoming rich and powerful.
* Self-Made Man: A deconstruction. He gained all of his money himself, but as he wasn't born with it the only way he could see himself becoming a millionaire was to be a criminal.
* Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Gatsby's a sappy romantic and dreamer, in contrast with aggressive and argumentative Tom.
* Single-Target Sexuality: In his real backstory, it's mentioned that he quickly grew contemptuous of women precisely because it was easy for him to seduce them. Once he falls for Daisy, he's never tempted by anyone else.
* Social Climber: He is the son of dirt-poor farmers from the Midwest who made his fortune by bootlegging.
* Stalker with a Crush: He has obsessed over Daisy for six years, to the point that he builds an empire of wealth via shady means to become rich and powerful enough to steal her away from her husband. He, with the help of Nick and Jordan, manipulate Daisy to help Jay win her back.
* Tragic Hero: He genuinely loved Daisy with all of his heart (or thought he did) and became rich in an attempt to win her back.
* Unbalanced By Rival's Kid: Daisy's child serves as a symbol to Gatsby of the reality of her marriage to Tom.
* When He Smiles: Gatsby's smile is described as disarming to a suspicious extent, so transforming that it must be hiding something.
* Wrong Genre Savvy: Gatsby thinks he's in a beautiful epic romance with his dream girl and believes she will leave her awful husband and fly away with him. Unfortunately, his dream girl is just that.
Ambiguous Situation: Did Cobb ever really get back to his family, or is he still dreaming? He spins the top totem to check, but doesn't watch it long enough to be sure, and the film ends with the top wobbling, but not falling.
Anti-Hero: He certainly isn't a mean person, but he also doesn't hesitate to use the occasional Batman Gambit to get what he needs, depending on the job.
Author Avatar: Given the common interpretation that the entire film is an allegory for the film-making process, Cobb himself is clearly a stand-in for director Christopher Nolan and physically resembles him to a great extent.
Badass Boast: He's the most skilled extractor, and had boasted as such.
Broken Ace: The foremost expert in dream-sharing technology and techniques, who drove his wife insane during the process of experimentation.
Byronic Hero: Very guilt-ridden over his wife's death.
Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Why he continuously has to spin his totem to check if he's in a dream or not.
Cold Sniper: When the team enters the third level, Cobb is equipped with a sniper rifle and shoots several mooks to clear the way to the fortress. Subverted in that he's unable to bring himself to shoot Mal, who then shoots Fischer.
Crusading Widower: Though rather than revenge he wants to reunite with his children.
Dark and Troubled Past: His beloved wife committed suicide after making sure he would be blamed for her death, forcing him to be constantly on the run, unable to see his children. His past also has a major impact on his ability to work. Not that he feels he has to be upfront about it to those endangered by it!
Determinator: Deconstructed. Quite literally, Cobb is his own worst enemy. The mental projection of his wife that hounds the protagonists is merely his dogged determination to keep his wife "alive" in some shape or form, to ease his own guilt over her death. Furthermore, Inception itself is revealed to be this but played for drama. Once an idea is incepted, it defines the victim, making that single idea the one thing that they will never give up on, no matter what.
Disappeared Dad: Cobb is one for his children, whom he hasn't seen in years. When he managed to call them, they wondered when he's coming home, to which he replied he can't.
Miles: It would take more than a few stuffed animals to convince those children they still have a father.
Double Think: ...of what's real and what isn't.
Earn Your Happy Ending: He essentially went through two limbo experiences to see his children again, or find a projection of them.
Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Making a living through industrial espionage was the only option for a man of his skills given that he's a wanted fugitive. Unlike the usual version of this trope he's good at it and the job pays well, but not enough to give him what he really wants.
Guile Hero: His Mr. Charles persona. Basically a manipulative ploy to convince the dreamer that he's a projection of the mind.
Heartbroken Badass: Dead wife and children he can never see, and he's arguably the world's greatest extractor.
I Did What I Had to Do: He didn't explain the risks behind the sedation and limbo to his team because he needed to go through with the job to get back to his children.
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: A common interrogation technique of his for extraction, but only in dreams.
Longing for Fictionland: He really wishes the projection of Mal in his dreams could match the real Mal.
The Lost Lenore: His dead wife, Mal.
Love Makes You Evil: Played with interestingly. Cobb's love for Mal prompted him to Mind Rape her in order to get her out of Limbo. In turn, the brainwashed Mal ruined Cobb's life to make sure he would commit suicide with her. Cobb then knowingly risked the lives of his crew by trying to keep Mal alive in his dreams, whereupon she constantly sabotaged his jobs and attempted to kill his comrades so that he would join her in Limbo.
Loving a Shadow: The projection of Mal and the memories he relives in his dreams is the only connection Cobb still has with his dead wife. In the end, Cobb is able to admit Mal's projection is a poor attempt to hold onto his dead wife because his imagination can't come close to replicating the real Mal.
Manipulative Bastard: Several cases. He recruited Ariadne by exposing her to the dream technology and counted on her wanting to further experiment with it. He didn't warn his team about being killed and sent to limbo. The Mr. Charles ploy. He also performed inception on Mal by destroying her belief in reality so they could wake up from their time in limbo.
Manly Tears: Looks and sounds like he's about to shed some too when Mal throws herself to her death.
Meaningful Name: "Cobb" means "dream" in Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi. It's also an old English word for "spider" (hence the word "cobweb"). Fitting, for a man who weaves webs and traps others in them.
Moving Beyond Bereavement: Throughout the film, Cobb's dreams are haunted by Mal's shade, a reflection of him being unable to move on from her death. However, in the finale, he is able to confront her and finally admit the Awful Truth: he's directly responsible for the real Mal's death, having forced her to leave Limbo by planting the idea that the dreamworld wasn't real - only for her to become convinced that the real world was a dream as well and commit suicide in an attempt to wake up. Furthermore, Cobb acknowledges that the shade is just his best effort at recreating his wife in his dreams - but it's nowhere near as good as the real thing. After this confrontation, Mal troubles him no further.
My God, What Have I Done?: The inception he performed on Mal wound up defining her worldview and drove her to suicide, destroying Cobb's life and leaving him with a crushing sense of guilt, manifesting in the shade of Mal that stalks Cobb throughout the film.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: To escape limbo with his wife, he destroyed her idea of reality so she would kill herself to wake up. After that she still thought reality wasn't real and killed herself again.
Obnoxious In-Laws: Downplayed; while they never interact on-screen, there's an implication that Cobb's mother-in-law doesn't much care for him, telling his children (who are in her care) that he's never coming home and refusing to speak with him about it. Even if she doesn't believe that he killed Mal (which is likely, as she allows contact between Cobb and the children), her opinion of him, or at least his chances of ever coming home, doesn't seem particularly high.
Older Than They Look: In the middle of the film, he has lived eighty years mentally (around 50 years with Mal in Limbo)— by the end, it's unknown how old he is.
Perma-Stubble: Can double as a Beard of Sorrow.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Cobb is the more intense and reckless Red one to Arthur's stiff Blue Oni.
There's No Place Like Home: He takes part in the inception job just because Saito offers him a chance to return home to his kids.
Trauma Button: Virtually any reminder of the scene of his wife's suicide triggers flashbacks to the event, and likely makes it easier for Cobb's subconscious to interfere with the job.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: His motivation in incepting Mal into believing their world in Limbo wasn't real (and thus prompting her to wake up) was clearly done out of love and noble intent. But it also resulted in her death, him being an exile, and pretty much everything bad that happens in the film.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: Said word for word by his son James.
Where Do You Think You Are?: "You're in a dream."
You Can't Go Home Again: He was implicated by his wife Mal for her death in a letter she filed with her attorney; as a result he became a wanted fugitive who can never return home to his children.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Subverted. He doesn't wish to dispose of Nash like Saito offered.
Your Worst Memory: Has developed the ability to keep troubling memories sealed in a prison in his mind - chief among them being the scene of Mal's suicide and the moment when he had to leave his children to go on the run. However, during the mission, these memories begin leaking out, resulting in the shades of James and Phillipa haunting him at odd moments... and then Mal shows up again.
* Abusive Parents: Attempts to kidnap his daughter and risks seriously hurting her when he accidentally crashes the car with her inside, though this is after his wife plans to take full custody of her and their son in their divorce. He wasn't a particularly stellar role-model of a parent beforehand, though.
* Adaptational Personality Change: While being largely the same, there are several differences between film Belfort and the real-life Belfort (as far as his memoir indicates). In the film, Jordan frequently does drugs because he's a hedonist who loves getting high. In his biography, he states that the real reason he did so many drugs was because he suffered from severe back pain due to an injury (which gets a brief nod in the film) and used drugs as a way to cope with it. Furthermore, he actually did quit Stratton Oakmont and leave it in the hands of others, which is in direct contrast to his defiant refusal to quit (though, the real Belfort did remain as an advisor). Finally, in a mild case of Adaptational Villainy, Belfort was heavily remorseful over his drug abuse and treatment of both his wives. He constantly reminisces over his first wife and berates himself for having taken her for granted, recognizes his drug problem and tries sobering up on several occasions, and after trying to kidnap his daughter in the midst of his failing second marriage, he almost commits suicide out of guilt, and then later patches the marriage up (but only for a little while longer). The film shrugs most of these off as minorly fleeting cases of guilt.
* Affably Evil: Polite, charming and slick, he's nevertheless the worst character in the film (except for maybe Donnie).
* Always a Bigger Fish: For all of his wealth, he's still far removed from the true power players of Wall Street. He attempts to use this to his advantage at one point, offering to spill the beans on "the real bad guys". It doesn't work.
* Animal Motif: He's the eponymous Wolf of Wall Street.
* Anything That Moves: Jordan slips into this when he's intoxicated, which is most of the time. He's a real piece of work when he goes too far, crossing into Dude, Not Funny! territory when he dry humps an air hostess and has to be strapped to his chair.
* Big Bad: Of Stratton Oakmont.
* Billionaire Wristband: Among the many things Jordan Belfort boasts about is his "$40,000 gold fucking watch." Turns out it's actually gold-plated and cost only $1,000 in real life at the time of its release.
* Bits of Me Keep Passing Out: An effect of the quaaludes that Jordan enjoys.
* Bond Villain Stupidity: He invites Agent Denham to meet him on his yacht against the extremely passionate advice of his private detective. He even calls himself a 'Bond villain' and tries to bribe Denham. This just brings him more attention and encourages Denham to take him down.
* Bullying a Dragon: See Bond Villain Stupidity.
* Card-Carrying Villain: He fully admits to being like a 'Bond villain'...to an FBI agent.
* Casual Kink: Belfort is into bondage and seems to particularly enjoy having a lit candle rammed up his ass and hot wax being poured down his back. Granted, he did seem a little taken aback that the dominatrix refused to accept his safeword.
* Consummate Liar: It's incredibly tricky to tell when Jordan is telling the truth, a lie, or a combination of the two. He is, simply put, the Prince of Lies.
* Equal-Opportunity Evil: Despite Belfort being a sleazebag who looks at women as trophies and toys and most of his staff no different, Stratton Oakmont includes quite a few women at work including a struggling single mother like Kimmie Belzer, who he cites as someone he believed in. Given his debauchery, that says quite a bit.
* Even Evil Has Standards: Occasionally shows this. Was considering letting Donnie choke to death after he got Brad arrested. But he goes ahead and saves his life after Naomi reminded him that Donnie was a father and had kids. Also after sobering up from a drug-induced frenzy he was pretty appalled to find he'd called someone the n-word.
* Executive Excess: Already the head of a corrupt stock-brokerage firm operating a pump-and-dump scheme on hundreds of duped investors, he's also notoriously hedonistic: in his own words, he gambles like a degenerate, drinks like a fish, fucks hookers five or six times a week, and does so many drugs over the course of his day he practically timetables them. Plus, he hosts ludicrously decadent parties for his employees at the end of every month, and took his fellow brokers on a stag night that wrecked the entire 28th floor of the Mirage hotel, which had to be refurbished out of Belfort's own pocket.
* Fourth-Wall Observer: He often talks directly to the camera and the audience. He cuts himself off in the middle of some stockbroker jargon to get to the point for the benefit of the audience.
* Functional Addict: It gets to a point where Jordan operates better (short-term) high on cocaine. He has a great knowledge of drugs; when to take them, what drugs to take to balance out the other drugs he's taking...
** Deconstructed, naturally, when it turns out that his body skips the "high" phase of the quaaludes and takes a while to just shortcut to him crashing out. His body has just become so used to them.
* The Hedonist: A perfect example. He's a sex-crazed, alcoholic drug addict who literally fucks his wife on a pile of money.
* Heel Realisation: Upon seeing a plane he very nearly boarded explode, he figures out that it's probably about time he shaped up. Doesn't last long though, see Ignored Epiphany.
* Hookers and Blow: He's practically the poster boy for this. One of the opening scenes shows him snorting coke from a prostitute's ass.
* Hypocrite: He's a crook who leeches money off of clients (or "stooges" as he would call them) who complains when the FBI starts knocking at his door. He accuses Naomi of being a Gold Digger when she asks for a divorce when his ship is sinking, forgetting that he only took her as his mistress and wife because he saw her as a Trophy Wife and cheated on Teresa, the woman who was genuinely loyal to him.
* Ignored Epiphany: Happens more than once, first when his dad convinces him to step down from his job to avoid being targeted by the FBI. Later when he attempts to give up his vices, upon being told his wife wants a divorce and sole custody of their daughter he falls instantly back into old habits.
* It's All About Me: Only cares about his own well-being and consuming and sucking everything out of the people around him.
* Jerkass: When on drugs or at his absolute worst, he is the epitome of this.
* Karma Houdini: Sure, he goes through very tough times, gets his company ruined and loses his friends, wife and children...but he still gets off pretty easy considering his crimes.
* Karma Houdini Warranty: For all of his idiotic and impulsive decisions, Jordan's arrest never actually comes from his own actions. When Saurel is arrested for an unrelated crime on US Soil, he plea bargains with the FBI and tells them about all of Jordan's illegal activities.
* Lack of Empathy: Jordan's biggest concern is himself and shows little sympathy for others. He's thoughtless at best, narcissistic at the middle, and The Sociopath at the worst.
* Large Ham: He turns enthusiastic salesmanship into something akin to an evangelical furor.
* Laughably Evil: He’s remorseless, psychopathic, selfish, and an utter jackass to boot, but damn does he make all of these look hilarious.
* Manchild: Is incapable of keeping his emotions in check or repressing his appetite for sex and drugs. The few times someone manages to pierce his macho facade, he quickly resorts to screaming and violent outbursts to mask his vulnerabilities.
* My God, What Have I Done?: Jordan has this towards the end. The FBI have him dead to rights, he has just fallen off the wagon and after hitting his wife, attempted to flee with his daughter while still wearing his court-ordered ankle monitor. Jordan realizes how far he has fallen. Though, see Ignored Epiphany above, it doesn't stick for long.
* Narcissist: Is convinced of his own intelligence and superiority. Jordan: "Fuck them [his marks], I knew how to spend it [money] better!"
* Nice to the Waiter: Zig-zagged. During his opening scene, Jordan is shown cordially greeting his driver and butler on a first-name basis. However, when he's high (which is often), he is incredibly abusive to service staff, to the point that he has to be strapped down on a plane to stop him from abusing the flight staff.
* No Honor Among Thieves: Zig-zagged. Holds the motto that "There's no friends on Wall Street," and works hard to help out the men and women working under him at Stratton. When he's busted by the FBI, he's reluctant to rat on his friends, but ultimately agrees to wear a wire in return for a reduced sentence. But even then, he tries to keep his friends from incriminating themselves on tape, sparing them from the FBI's wrath. When he gets caught for that, however, he finally cracks in the face of real, serious jailtime and sells out everyone in the firm while he himself gets a comfortable stay at a minimum-security resort prison.
* Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Initially, he's a skilled, but unremarkable Wall Street broker. But when he turns the sales skills he learned towards Penny Stocks (which are full of comparatively untrained brokers), he rapidly becomes a star.
* Pet the Dog: He does show clear remorse after his wife finds out about his infidelity. And he also saves Donnie (who can be seen as a slightly lesser evil), despite being barely able to move at the time. To a smaller extent, his hiring of Kimmie Belzer also counts.
* Playing the Victim Card: His narration tries to paint himself as an innocent victim who is being targeted by the FBI because they don't want him to be successful when it's obvious that he's a thief who is being pursued because he's breaking the law.
* Politically Incorrect Villain: Has to be reminded that little people need to be treated like human beings and have their rights respected. He also refers to one of his butler's friends as a "faggot." However, he is horrified to learn that he used the N-word while on a drug-fueled frenzy.
* Pride: He does not take it well after Denham calls him a "little man."
* Protagonist Journey to Villain: The basic plot of the movie. When he meets with Hanna on his first day on Wall Street, Jordan is uncomfortable around him, actually concerned about the clients and shocked by the outrageous things Hannah tells him about the real nature of the business. By the end of the story, he's committed almost every transgression, and then some.
* Psychopathic Manchild: In addition to being a heavily corrupt stockbroker with sociopathic qualities, Jordan also acts like a petty, immature Spoiled Brat who makes his outbursts of anger look like a tantrum. Naomi even calls him an infant at one point, and practically has to raise their daughter on her own, because Jordan's an irresponsible prick.
* Rousing Speech: Jordan gives several, usually to his employees and partners. He's actually really good at them.
* Self-Made Man: A very dark twist on the Trope. Jordan loves to present himself as this, and as a success story that achieved the American Dream, but leaves out the part about being a white collar criminal whose rise to the top was accomplished by entirely illegal means.
* Small Name, Big Ego: As absurdly rich as Jordan becomes, at the end of the day he is never more than a small fry by the standards of the true, big-shot Wall Street sharks who actually operate on Wall Street, make more money, and have a lot more connections with people in power that gives them considerably more influence in the financial industry.
* Smug Snake: Jordan, full stop. The quote below sums it up best. "Was all this legal? Absolutely fucking not!"
** However, when he tries to take this to Bond Villain levels in the yacht scene, it proved to be Too Dumb to Live, since it invoked the personal attention of the FBI.
* Speed Sex: Jordan's two scenes of having sex with Naomi are pathetic and last under a minute.
* The Social Darwinist: Jordan believes that if people are stupid enough to buy into his schemes then they're idiots who deserve the consequences.
* The Sociopath: Lack of Empathy? Check. No sense of guilt? He only feels guilt about cheating because it means that he gets denied sex and he blames the suffering caused by his actions on the victims. Consummate Liar? Check. Need for stimulation? Check. Grandiose sense of self worth? Check. Inability to learn lessons? Check. Sees no difference between things and people? Check.
* Stupid Evil: Honestly, how else can you describe an extraordinarily corrupt stockbroker who goes out of his way to get the attention of the FBI after being explicitly told that they would likely forget about him soon?
* Took a Level in Jerkass: He starts off as a Naïve Newcomer who wants to help his clients make money too. Then Hanna takes him under his wing and he becomes a Villain Protagonist.
* Unreliable Narrator: He ups his own intelligence and skill, with his description of the drive home from the country club being the biggest example. He also attempts to use the narration to paint himself as an innocent victim who's being picked on by the FBI, saying that they only want him busted for being successful, though in that case the pictures displayed don't quite match up with his words.
* Villain Protagonist: Even if he's Affably Evil, Jordan is still a vile, unrepentant criminal who remorselessly swindled hundreds of people for his own gain.
* Wealthy Yacht Owner: A particularly big one, called Naomi. His own greed and selfishness sees it destroyed in a storm.
* Would Hit a Girl: When his wife tells him she wants a divorce and custody of their children, Jordan punches her in the face and stomach in order to get to his daughter.
* Acquired Situational Narcissism: Downplayed. The fame he gets as a result of the comet's discovery goes a little to his head, causing him to cheat on his wife and support Orlean's incompetent administration and Isherwell's apocalyptically risky plan. However, it's clear at all points that he's trying his best to save the planet. He also ultimately gets his head on straight and starts speaking out against Orlean, Isherwell, and their cronies.
* The Cassandra: To the higher-ups in the United States as well as the media. He is insistent that the comet will destroy everything, but no one takes him seriously until it is too late.
* Classical Anti-Hero: He's a Nervous Wreck who gives into some petty vices, and is altogether not a particularly impressive person. However, he's still one of the few genuinely heroic individuals (apparently on the planet) who's actually trying to save humanity from their own greed and apathy.
* Cosmic Plaything: Seems to be this as every attempt he makes at trying to warn Earth or everything else around him (from Isherwell aborting the mission to his own machines blowing up) backfires.
* The Hero Dies: A common trait of Leonardo DiCaprio. After spending most of the movie going to great lengths to stop Comet Dibiasky, he spends one last dinner with his family and friends.
* Humans Are Flawed: He is a Nervous Wreck who easily gives in to pressure and temptations of being in the public spotlight, including lending his name to dubious ventures and starting an affair with a news anchor. On the other hand, he tries to do his best given the situation he found himself in, doesn't hesitate to give credit for the discovery to his Ph.D. student (as a more sleazy researcher might have), and makes amends with his family before the comet hits. Together this paints a picture of a man who generally knows what is the right thing to do, but often lacks the strength to follow through.
* Ignored Expert: He correctly predicts the destruction of Earth, but his warnings are not heeded because...well, let’s face it, Earth is full of idiots.
* Measuring the Marigolds: When he first meets the President to alert her of the discovery, Randall gets bugged up in scientific technicalities and struggles to convey the danger to characters who are not so mathematically-minded. Dr. Oglethorpe instead simply dubs the comet a "planet killer", and later calls Mindy out on this explicitly.
* Nervous Wreck: Has crippling anxiety for which he takes an array of medications, and initially tends to crumble at the thought of being in high-pressure situations.
* Rage-Breaking Point: After being surrounded by incompetent politicians and corrupt businessmen for the past six months, the mild-mannered Professor Mindy finally snaps and has an epic meltdown on live TV, calling out the lies, incompetence, and greed of the government and corporations who are trying to use the comet for its natural resources and the good publicity it would bring when they should be focusing on trying to stop it from destroying the world. He also rants at the public who are apathetic to the comet and those who outright deny it even exists.
* "Sesame Street" Cred: In-Universe, Mindy becomes a recurring presence on a Sesame Street-esque kids' show that airs on the fictional PBN.
* Smart People Wear Glasses: He's a professor wearing glasses.
* So Beautiful, It's a Curse: He is so handsome people are more interested in that fact when he's trying to warn them that a meteor is heading towards the Earth that could potentially kill them all.
* Surrounded by Idiots: He feels this way toward the people on The Daily Rip and the Orlean administration.
* Always Save the Girl: Jack's dedication to Rose is so strong that he ends up saving her life more than once...except for when he's handcuffed to a pipe.
* Bait-and-Switch: His survival is actually hinted at before being subverted. When Lewis is giving Rose's background check to Brock, he says that the earliest records from the 20s list her name as "Rose Dawson," suggesting he survives and they married. Instead, Jack dies during the sinking and Rose gives her name as "Dawson" when Carpathia arrives in New York.
* Been There, Shaped History: Downplayed, like Rose, Jack has a few, albeit fleeting encounters with several historical persons who were aboard the Titanic. Unlike Rose, who is at least acquainted with many of the First Class passengers given her own status, Jack was a Third Class passenger who was invited to a single dinner party. He has extended interactions with Molly Brown, who prepares him for the dinner party, offers him her son's tuxedo to wear, and gives him advice on how to present himself.
* Chekhov's Skill: Jack mentions he's a good swimmer when he's trying to talk Rose out of killing herself. He later proves it once the ship goes down and they end up in the water.
* Chronic Hero Syndrome: Saves Rose, a complete stranger from committing suicide, and tries to save several more while on the Titanic.
* Cultured Badass: He's into painting, tap dancing, and manages to outlast most others through sheer force of will on a sinking ship. In a deleted scene, he gets into a fight with an armed Lovejoy, beating the latter down with his bare hands.
* Deadpan Snarker: Especially in his first interactions with Rose. Man: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Jack: You wanna walk a little faster through that valley there?
* Deuteragonist: Rose is the focal character the story revolves around, but part of the story is also dedicated to showing Jack's struggle against social hierarchy.
* Determinator: Does everything in his power to make sure Rose survives.
* Distressed Dude: Rose has to rescue him during the flooding of the Master-At-Arms’s cabin.
* The Dog Bites Back: While Lovejoy watches over him in the Master-At-Arms cabin, Lovejoy punches a subdued Jack in the stomach as "compliments of Mr. Caledon Hockley". When the two later fight in a deleted scene, Jack beats Lovejoy down and caps it off with a punch to his stomach, returning the favour: "Compliments of the Chippewa Falls Dawsons!"
* The Drifter: He prizes freedom and often travels from place to place working for a while but eventually moving on.
* Face Death with Dignity: Pretty impressive seeing as he was freezing to death with people dying all around him.
* Foil: To Cal, who sees Rose as a possession, while he sees her as a person. Rose herself probably sees this as well, as evidenced by her line "you see people". Jack is also thrilled to see that Rose owns paintings by Monet; Cal had considered those paintings to be a waste of money.
* Friend to All Children: Shown with his attitude towards Cora; later, he and Rose stop to save a boy while the ship is flooding.
* Going Down with the Ship: Literally; he and Rose ride the stern down in the final plunge.
* Good Is Not Soft: He has proven to be this when he has no problem beating Lovejoy in a deleted scene. Also, when one of surviving passengers clings to Rose in order to stay afloat and refuses to let her go in panic, Jack just punches him straight in the face with no hesitation.
* Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Is a loyal friend, an honest lover, and a noble hero onboard the Titanic.
* The Hero: The 1912 scenes are as much his story as Rose's.
* The Hero Dies: He dies after making sure Rose is safe on a board, from hypothermia.
* Heroes Want Redheads: Falls in love with Fiery Redhead Rose.
* Heroic Sacrifice: He gives his life to save Rose's just minutes before being rescued.
* Horrible Judge of Character: He thinks that Lovejoy will vouch for him having been in First Class the night before. Instead, Lovejoy tries to pay him off to stop seeing Rose.
* Innocent Blue Eyes: Very playful and good-natured along with being the Love Interest and hero of the story.
* Intergenerational Friendship: With Molly and Cora.
* Kill It with Ice: Jack's fate; he freezes to death in the arctic-cold ocean water (which would have been completely frozen if it was freshwater) before the lifeboat commanded by Officer Lowe returns.
* Nice Guy: A Friend to All Children, boy with a heart of gold who sees the best in people.
* Sex Signals Death: He has sex with Rose in the backseat of the Renault, and ends up freezing to death.
* Starving Artist: A talented but impoverished artist who was able to board the ship only after winning tickets in a lucky game of poker.
* Street Smart: He is pretty cultured with his worldly experience.
* Suddenly Shouting: The only time he loses his cool is when he confronts a locked gate and the steward only tells them to head for the main stairwell. Jack: Open the gate. Steward: Go back down the main stairwell. Jack: Open the gate right now. Steward: Go back down the main stairwell, like I told you. Jack: GOD DAMMIT!!! SON OF A BITCH!!!
* Together in Death: With Rose, based on your interpretation at the end.
* Un-person: At the end of the film, Lewis mentions that they weren't able to find any record of Jack's existence. Given his poor background, and self-described life of "being a tumbleweed blowing in the wind," Rose says that this was to be expected.
* White Shirt of Death: He's wearing a white shirt during the sinking and ultimately freezes to death.
* The '60s: The majority of the film.
* The '70s: The last fifteen or so minutes of the film.
* Abortion Fallout Drama: In the scene where Brenda reveals her history, she goes from merely winsome to tragic, and is played as a sweet, brokenhearted girl who is still paying for a terrible injury in her past. Her greatest penalty is that her parents, after they arranged for her procedure, disowned her.
* Abusive Parents: Frank's parents are actually very supportive of their son, even after their divorce, but his father engages in emotional abuse in one of his last scenes. Frank has been trying to stop his criminal lifestyle for a while now, but can't go through with it until his father tells him that it's alright to do so. Instead, Frank Sr. refuses and tries to use his son as a weapon against the government out of spite, because they didn't support him when his business went under. This did not happen in real life.
* Actor Allusion:
** When Hanratty is closing in at the engagement party, a dollar bill slips under the bedroom door and floats by him, just like a certain feather.
** This comes seconds after another actor allusion, as Frank makes a hasty exit through a window, kissing Brenda before he goes into exile. After talking about the meaninglessness of his names, no less. Sound familiar?
** Frank meets a little girl named Celine, just like the woman who sings "My Heart Will Go On" for Titanic (1997), another movie Leonardo DiCaprio starred in.
* Actually Pretty Funny:
** Young Frank impersonates a substitute teacher for French Class: where he plays the role convincingly enough to lecture his students and hand out homework, hold Parent-Teacher Conferences, and even organize plans for a field trip to a French Bread factory. He gets in trouble with the school once they find this out an entire week later; Frank's parents make a show of being angry at him but Frank Sr.'s face becomes a proud smirk once they leave the principal's office.
** When Carl confronts Frank Sr., the latter makes up a story that Frank Jr. made a fake ID to enlist and fight in the Vietnam War. Carl is rather amused by Frank Sr.'s audacity and can't help but grin as Frank Sr. tells his lie heatedly.
* Adapted Out: Frank is an only child in the film. In real life, he was one of four children (he had two brothers and a sister).
* Ambiguous Situation: It's not made clear if Brenda cooperated with the FBI to bring Frank in because she was coerced to, or willingly agreed to because she was heartbroken over everything Frank told her about himself being a lie. Since she never appears again after the scene in Miami, we also don't learn if she was able to keep her relationship with her parents or not.
* Anachronic Order: The film skips around quite a bit. The movie starts with a clip of a reformed Frank appearing on To Tell the Truth, then skips back several years to a sequence with Agent Hanratty coming to interview Frank in a brutal French prison. It then skips back several more years to the beginning to start the main narrative about Frank and his life of crime. As the main plot unspools, the film periodically skips forward to show Carl bringing Frank back to the United States.
* Animated Credits Opening: And one that evokes the classic work from The '60s of Saul Bass!
* Anti-Villain: Frank Abagnale Jr. becomes an elusive Con Man who lives a rich life by stealing a million dollars from the government and the banks. He also came from a family that fell from grace and broke up, and started out with his schemes to support himself. He's never purposely malicious, more an irresponsible kid who should know better, tries to remain friendly with the officer pursuing him, and genuinely wants to stop his crimes by the halfway point but can't. He ends the movie being prematurely released from prison and inducted into the FBI Financial Crimes Unit with Hanratty's help.
* Arc Words:
** For the film's first half, Frank's promise to his father; "I'm gonna get it all back. All-All the jewelry, all the furs, everything, Dad. Everything they took from us, I'm going to get it back."
** For the film's second half, Agent Hanratty's repeated question; "How did you cheat on the bar exam in Louisiana?"
** When accepting an award, Frank Sr. tells the story of two mice who fell into a bucket of cream, one gave up and drowned while another kept swimming until the cream turned into cheese and was able to escape. The analogy is obvious but the context as applied to the characters is always left abstract, even as it is shared multiple times over the course of the film. The subtext here is that there isn't a point where Frank can just stop and everything will be okay.
* Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Frank confesses to Brenda he's not a doctor, lawyer, or a Lutheran and he's actually a young run-away; her response- "You're not a Lutheran?"
* Artistic License – Gun Safety: Carl walks through a hotel with his gun up, finger on the trigger, and even sweeps it across a civilian. Other agents are similarly cavalier. This is, of course, set before many modern firearms practices were even established. In fact, most of the agents don't even use both hands (Carl does use the modern Weaver stance a few times, which was developed in the 50s but not common until the 70s). Carl is also apparently a Desk Jockey who doesn't use his service weapon much, as his hand is seen shaking when he searches through the hotel.
* As You Know: Used in Hanratty's first scene after Frank begins his life as a con man. Carl briefing the agents regarding the still-unknown Abagnale also brings the audience up to speed on how Frank is successfully getting away with his forgery. Carl: All of this was in the report I filed two days ago, if you change [the routing number of] an oh-two to a one-two, that means that check which was cashed in New York does not go to the New York federal branch, but is re-routed all the way to the San Francisco federal branch. The bank doesn't even know the check has bounced for two weeks. Which means our un-sub can stay in one place, paper the same city over and over again while his checks circle the country.
* Awesomeness by Analysis:
** Hanratty runs on this trope. After getting a lead that Frank must be a kid on learning he used an alias from a comic book, Hanratty remembers that Frank referenced the Yankees and must be a runaway from New York. This helps him get a photograph from Frank's mother. He goes to Frank Sr.'s apartment to question him about his son's location. Frank Sr. tells a bald-faced lie that his son is in Vietnam; as he does so, Hanratty studies some mail. He memorizes the return addresses, knowing they must be from Frank Jr.
** Frank isn't too shabby, either. When shown a check, he knows it's fake the instant he sees it because it doesn't have any perforated edges, then quickly identifies several other tell-tale signs, ranging from the thickness of the paper to the smell of the ink.
* Backup Bluff: Subverted when Hanratty confronts Frank in France. He claims that the place is surrounded by French law enforcement, who are very upset that an American has come to their country to steal their money and will shoot on sight if Frank tries to escape; Frank's best bet is to surrender to Hanratty and be extradited to the United States for trial and punishment. They exit to a deserted street and it seems that Hanratty was lying the entire time, but then a swarm of French officers quickly surround them.
* Bait-and-Switch:
** Meeting up in a money printing facility in France, Carl tells Frank that a team of French police are outside, Frank thinks he's lying and has him promise on his daughter. Carl takes him outside in cuffs, where no French police are present. Franks says "That was really good, Carl". Seconds later, a horde of French police appears.
** After Frank walks off his FBI job for one more jethop, Carl is holding a meeting about a new forger when a shot of a pair of legs running toward the briefing room. The door then bursts open to reveal...one of the fraud agents.
* Based on a Great Big Lie: A lot of the movie embroiders Abagnale's memoir—the fraught relationship with his father is fictional, Brenda is a composite of two different people described in Abagnale's book, etc. But later research has shown that most everything that the movie did take from Abagnale's book, in fact the whole book, is essentially made up. Abagnale never impersonated a doctor. He never took the bar exam in Louisiana or practiced law. He didn't escape custody by climbing out of an airplane toilet—that's physically impossible. He never worked for the FBI as a consultant in fighting check forgery. While he did sometimes wear a pilot's uniform as part of his check kiting, he did not use it to hitch plane rides around the world. And he was convicted of forging not $2.5 million in checks, but $1448.60. Wikipedia has much more about this.
* Bathroom Breakout: Frank escapes from a plane extraditing him back to the United States by unscrewing the toilet and escaping into the luggage area.
* Batman Gambit: Frank generally relies on this and there are plenty of opportunities throughout the film for his plans to go awry. His charisma and tendency to luck out are frequently what saves him. When first confronted by Carl Hanratty he just happened to distract Hanratty from opening his wallet and blowing his disguise by pointing at a neighbor walking an elderly man to a car outside to continue the ruse.
* Bavarian Fire Drill: Half of the cons.
* Beat Them at Their Own Game:
** Frank's in a hotel room wearing James Bond's suit, making out with a hooker when she gets up and negotiates him up to $1,000 for the night. Frank's about to walk downstairs to cash a fake check ... and she suggests signing the $1,400 check over to her in exchange for the $400 difference. In real life, this was part of Frank's downfall, as the girl gave the FBI a description of what he looked like. Prior to that, the FBI thought they were looking for someone older.
** When Frank is practically begging his father to tell him it's OK to stop the cons, his father almost gleefully urges him to continue, feeling that Frank's crime is some sort of revenge on the government for his own tax problems.
* Black-and-White Morality: This is what Hanratty firmly believes in until he discovers that Frank is redeemable.
* Bluff the Impostor: Frank (posing as a lawyer) claims to have been taught by a professor who also taught his girlfriend's father, and her father asks what the professor's dog's name was. Frank, smelling a trap, replies simply that the dog had since died. The father remains suspicious.
* Boxed Crook: Either Frank works for the FBI, or he stays in prison.
* Brick Joke:
** After Hanratty's boss chews him out and clearly gets on Hanratty's nerves, Hanratty references his previous Precision F-Strike by going "Chief? Knock Knock."
** From that same pair of scenes, Carl tells his fellow agents that if they just keep their eyes open and do their jobs, he'll buy them both a Good Humor bar, though at the time it seems like a throwaway condescending line. Guess what those two agents are munching on back at the boss' office?
** When Frank pretends to be a substitute teacher, he says his name isn't pronounced "A-big-nah-leh", among other methods. When Carl and his partner find his mother, they read his surname on the list the same way.
** At one point, Frank Sr. asks his son the reason the Yankees always win. He responds "Because they have Mickey Mantle?" and his father says "No, because the other team can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes." Later in the movie when Frank is on the phone with Carl, he repeats the same metaphor, saying the Yankees always win because no one can keep their eyes off the pinstripes. Carl responds, "The Yankees win because they have Mickey Mantle. No one ever bets on the uniform."
* Briefcase Full of Money: Frank has two, which he has to hurriedly pack when he's fleeing from his fiancee's family's home right before Agent Hanratty shows up.
* Brilliant, but Lazy: The undercurrent of Frank's entire character, the cons and other schemes he pulls off are incredibly clever and require a good amount of effort, but it comes from a place of trying to do the least amount of work possible. He passed the Louisiana Bar Exam legitimately after two weeks of hard study.
* Broken Aesop: Frank watching Brenda's parents flirting in the kitchen, wistfully recalling his own parents before their divorce. Poignant and heartwarming - until you remember they threw their daughter to the street for having an abortion after being raped by her fathers friend who plays golf.
* Candy Striper: When young conman Frank poses as a doctor a number of Candy Stripers are seen working in the hospital. Brenda, a naive young Candy Striper (played by Amy Adams wearing pigtails and a set of fake braces to appear even younger) becomes Frank's Love Interest while in his doctor and later lawyer personas.
* The Casanova: Frank Jr. becomes a ladies' man and has many passionate flings throughout the movie. He falls in love with one in particular and tries to start a new life with her, but the FBI catches up with him.
* Cassandra Truth:
** Sorry Carl, Frank was at the Stuyvesant Arms, room 3113. Not so sure about Las Vegas, though...
** Carl refuses to believe that Frank passed the bar exam in Louisiana after studying for two weeks. The real Frank Abagnale says he passed legitimately at the third attempt after 16 weeks of studying. A loophole at the time allowed a person to re-sit the exam three times, and their marked exam papers were returned, so essentially they only had to correct the answers they got wrong.
* The Charmer: By the time he's impersonating an airline pilot and a doctor Frank is a master at this, and he knows it.
* Character Name Alias: Frank uses the alias Barry Allen, secret identity of The Flash; Hanratty figures out that the person they're looking for is probably quite young based on this information. Later, while posing as a doctor, he uses the alias Dr. Connors, possibly a reference to the real name of Spider-Man villain the Lizard. When buying the suit James Bond wears in Goldfinger he uses the name "Mr. Fleming".
* Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Inverted. The French police actually seem very gung-ho about shooting Abagnale on sight. In fact, the French in general have a sense of national pride at least as intense as the American one. As such, they're pretty incensed that an American Con Man like Frank thinks nothing of stealing their money and embarrassing them.
* Chekhov's Gun: Frank's inspiration to pretend to be a pilot comes from witnessing a Pan Am Pilot enter an airport surrounded by beautiful flight attendants. He later surrounds himself with flight attendants as well to sneak right from under the FBI's nose.
* Chew-Out Fake-Out: Frank Sr.'s response on finding out that Frank Jr. has been teaching his French class is just to smirk and laugh that his boy had the balls to do it.
* Chronic Villainy: Frank eventually becomes addicted to the thrill of living like a playboy by conning money and eluding the authorities, while becoming tired from having to look over his shoulder all the time. He needs his father's support to stop, but Frank Sr. refuses for selfish reasons. Even when Frank tries to settle down his past catches up with him and he goes further into the criminal lifestyle. When Hanratty finally tracks him down in France, Frank almost seems like a thrill-seeking junkie, and Hanratty has to save him from getting himself killed. Subverted when he is released from prison to work for the FBI catching criminals like himself, and he almost goes back to his former life. However, when Frank makes a run for the airport, Carl tells him he knows Frank will voluntarily come back to work on Monday, because "no one's chasing you". Indeed, Frank comes back into work on Monday and greets Carl as usual.
* Comically Missing the Point: Frank: Brenda, I don't wanna lie to you anymore, alright? I'm not a doctor, I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer, or-or a Harvard graduate, or a lutheran. Brenda, I ran from home a year and a half ago when I was 16. Brenda: Frank...Frank?...You're not a lutheran?
* The Comically Serious: Carl is a Consummate Professional but its shown the check forgery department of the FBI is relatively new, with the more relaxed demeanor of his co-workers making for a lot of humorous bits. They comment on Carl not having much of a sense of humor, which leads to Carl telling a "Knock Knock" Joke with a Precision F-Strike.
* Composite Character:
** Carl Hanratty, mostly based on former FBI agent Joe Shea.
** Brenda was a combination of two different girlfriends from the original memoirs.note 
* The Con: Many, as Frank is constantly assuming fake identities in order to scam people out of money and perks and to pass bad checks.
* Consummate Liar: Frank lies about his identity, profession, to the FBI, his fiancé's parents, almost anything really. Frank: People only know what you tell them.
* Criminal Mind Games: Played with, as Frank calls Hanratty yearly at Christmas; not to taunt him, but because of crushing loneliness. Also inverted as Hanratty actually uses these calls to taunt him about eventually catching up to him ("I'm getting close, aren't I?")
* Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Frank eventually gave up the life of crime and discovered he could make more money as a fraud consultant.
* Death by Falling Over: Frank is devastated to learn his father died after falling down a flight of stairs in Grand Central Station.
* Deliberate Values Dissonance:
** Frank's family apparently didn't call the cops when he ran away, despite the fact that he only had $25 to live on and they had no idea where he was. This was in line with the values at the time when Free-Range Children was more acceptable and kids often set out from home while they were minors.
** Due to the time period, no one comments on the fact that Frank by seducing older women could have gotten them in trouble on charges of statutory rape since he only turns nineteen at the end of the movie.
* Determinator: Carl Hanratty naturally. He tracks Frank even in France!
* Did Not Get the Girl:This happens twice with Frank.
** He advises a girl named Joanna at high school to fold the fake note she has to skip two periods. This apparently enamored her, and he references going on a date with her. Frank runs away before that date, and he asks his father to apologize to her on his behalf.
** Frank falls in love with Brenda, becomes engaged to her and wants her to run away with him, but before they can, Frank notices FBI agents waiting to catch him and he is forced to leave her behind.
* Distracted by the Sexy:
** How Frank gave the entire FBI the slip at Miami Airport. Just get in the middle of a group of (wannabe) stewardesses, and you're invisible!
** Is a major theme, taught to Frank courtesy of his father. "Why do the Yankees always win?" indeed.
* Doctor, Doctor, Doctor: When Frank pretends to be a doctor.
* Do Wrong, Right: After being busted for posing as a substitute teacher, Frank is left waiting outside the principal's office as his parents talk about the punishment. He sees a girl named Joanna prepare to hand in a note excusing her from class. Frank whispers at her to fold the note, to make it look more legitimate. He explains to a confused Joanna that kids put legitimate notes in their pockets, and they're usually crumpled. Joanna was impressed and did so; she also agreed to go on a date with him.
* "Eureka!" Moment: When Frank first meets Hanratty, he is masquerading as Secret Service agent "Barry Allen." Later, a kid points out that "Barry Allen" is the alter ego of comic book superhero The Flash, which makes Hanratty realize that Frank, despite his looks, is just a kid himself.
* Failed a Spot Check: Subverted as Frank Sr. ultimately dissuades Frank from giving him an expensive car as a gift because it would lead a blatant trail to his con jobs.
* Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Frank Abagnale Sr. was apparently quite a succesful entrepeneur at one point, but by the start of the film he's being scrutinized by the IRS for sketchy book keeping, likely tax evasion. First he's forced to sell the old family home and downsize his store. The last time his son sees him, his business has apparently gone under, as he's now a deliveryman for the US postal service.
* Five-Second Foreshadowing: Before the plane touches down at LaGuardia, Hanratty looks very uncomfortable after Frank tells him he wants to call his father. Moments later, he reveals to Frank that his father is dead. What makes this worse is that earlier he had made out that Abagnale Sr. was still alive. The truth is that he didn't want to break the sad news to Frank until they were closer to home.
* Foreshadowing: The opening title sequence foreshadows several events that happen later in the film. For example, how Frank is still in school when he decides to impersonate a pilot (and that happens after he sees some flight attendants), that Carl starts following and investigating him around this time, how Frank first evades Carl, that Frank poses as a doctor and meets Brenda after a pool party, but that he has to leave her behind due to Carl still being on his tail.
* Freudian Excuse: Frank comes from a broken home and he ran away since he couldn't deal with choosing one parent over the other.
* Freudian Excuse Denial: In the book, Abagnale says he had a hard time when his parents divorced, but he also says more than once that it's no excuse for his crimes, and most other children from "broken homes" don't become con artists (including Frank's own siblings, who were Adapted Out in the film).
* Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: One judge spells it out for Frank when sentencing him; he may have been a minor who came from a broken family, but he showed disregard for the law while dealing with his pain.
* Friendly Enemy: Frank Abagnale Jr. and Carl Hanratty. It's done in an interesting way early on. Frank calls Carl to apologize for the fact that Carl has to deal with his crimes. He's being totally sincere and even gives him his location, but Carl just thinks he's mocking him. It's one of the many things in the movie that show that while Frank may be a criminal mastermind, he's ultimately just a kid. Carl later realizes that Frank was sincere, and repays the favor by visiting him in jail regularly, with Christmas gifts.
* Game Show Appearance: Frank Jr. appears on To Tell the Truth at the very beginning of the movie; real footage of Abagnale's appearance on the show from 1977 was used with Leonardo DiCaprio and other actors (playing the imposters) digitally inserted. The question Kitty Carlisle gives to the first imposter, and the response, is Truth in Television, but the first question posed to the real Frank Jr. was how long he stayed on the state attorney's staff without being caught, as opposed to the film's segue to the composite character Carl Hanratty.
* Genre Throwback: The film deliberately apes the late '50s-early '60s sophisticated thriller and crime movie genre, especially Topkapi, the original Ocean's Eleven, Charade, and many Alfred Hitchcock movies. The title screens are done in the style of Saul Bass and the The Pink Panther movies, and the score by John Williams is an Homage to Henry Mancini.
* Hero Antagonist: Carl Hanratty is the FBI agent trying to stop the notorious con man Frank Abagnale that is our protagonist.
* High-Class Call Girl: Frank meets one in a hotel, enjoys a night of sex, and then not only gives her a fake check but scams her into giving him $400 change for the fake check. He recognizes her as a model, so it's not quite clear if she's an escort or was just enamored by his rich guy persona.
* High-School Hustler: Frank goes from pretending to be a teacher to get back at some bullies at his school to conning a million dollars.
* Historical Villain Downgrade: The movie ignores Abagnale's cons he pulled on ordinary people, most notably the Campbell family who he wined and dined with their own money.
* How We Got Here: A double whammy: we start with Frank appearing on To Tell the Truth, followed by a flashback to him in prison... followed by another flashback to 1963.
* I Am One of Those, Too: Frank lies that he got his law degree from Berkeley. Brenda's father immediately tells Frank he got his law degree there too and starts asking about professors.
* I Have No Son!: Brenda's parents disowned her after she had an abortion two years before she met Frank. This is averted after Frank is introduced to them.
* I Never Said It Was Poison: "I never said your son was a criminal. I said he was in trouble."
* Ignored Confession: At one point Frank tearfully explains to Mr. Strong that he's just a fraud in love with his daughter. Roger assumes the boy simply feels inadequate and is a romantic, rather than take it at face value.
* Improbable Age: Despite looking older than a normal teenager, one of the trickier aspects of Frank's cons is that he has to talk himself up as a credible Secret Service agent, pilot, doctor, and lawyer at various points despite clearly being too young to be any of those. This comes to a crossroads when meeting Brenda's parents, where he has to pass himself off as a doctor and a lawyer.
* In Medias Res: The film starts with an older Frank Abagnale in jail before going back to the very start. Occasionally the film cuts back forward to Carl and Frank on the plane to prison. Once the movie catches up to the plane scene Frank escapes the plane only to be later caught once more
* Inspector Javert: Hanratty is very dead-set on capturing Frank and upholding the federal laws Frank broke in his "relatively victimless" crimes—even to the point of chasing him around the world if that's what it takes to get him. This goes away, however, after he catches Frank; when the French police arrest the kid, he lobbies for Frank to receive medical attention and extradition to the United States where prison conditions are relatively better. He's Frank's only visitor in prison, bringing him comic books to read as a Christmas present.
* Internal Reveal: We see that Frank's mother has married Jack Barnes when Carl and his agents pay her a visit to ask about her son, but Frank himself doesn't learn this until he tries to coax his father to win her back and Frank Sr. has to break the bad news to him.
* It's for a Book: More like It's For A School Newspaper Article. Frank pumps a Pan Am exec for info about how the airline industry works, using this tactic.
* Justified Criminal: Frank starts out his career of conning people and counterfeiting checks after running away from home and trying to support himself. He gets less sympathetic as his crimes and the amount of money he has stolen increase, but he remains likable as a devilish rogue who outsmarts his enemies with sheer brains and bravado and also scores points for tiring of his life as a criminal.
* Kick the Dog: When Frank calls Hanratty in one scene to apologise, Hanratty tauntingly comments how Frank not only called to apologize but "because you have no one else to call" and laughs.
* "Knock Knock" Joke: Hanratty has a splendid one after his new assistants show disdain over Hanratty's serious nature. Carl: Well, would you like to hear me tell a joke? His subordinate: Yeah, we'd love to hear you tell a joke. Carl: Knock knock. His subordinate: Who's there? Carl: (Beat) Go fuck yourselves.
* A Lady on Each Arm: Frank uses this to walk through an FBI stakeout; the cops are too busy getting an eyefull of the pretty young stewardesses (actually schoolgirls conned with the promise of a job) to notice Frank. At the start of the scene Frank actually has two girls on one arm and three on the other, but they don't hold formation for long.
* Language Barrier:
** While searching for Frank in France, Carl speaks English slooow-ly and LOUDLY to the French officials. They continue to speak French and give no indication that they have understood him.
** A weird unintentional example: It's implied that Frank understands French since he poses as a French teacher at the beginning of the movie, but the scene where the French police are arresting Frank gives no indication that he understands them; he doesn't hear French as English, nor are there subtitles, so it seems like it was just a coincidence that he was able to follow their commands.
* Let Him Choose: Frank coming home to learn of his parent's impending separation and having the choice of custody forced on him is what leads to his running away and subsequent years of life as a con man.
* Loveable Rogue: Frank Abagnale (winningly played by Leonardo DiCaprio). He's a very clever young man who successfully passes for a lawyer, doctor, and airline pilot, whilst committing a million of dollars worth of check fraud. But he only does this because he sees no other prospects for himself; what he longs for most is a stable family. Pursuing FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) comes to realize this, so arranges for Frank to eventually achieve a happy ending. This story has some overlap with Real Life.
* Manly Tears: After being told by Carl that his father had died, Frank shuts himself in the bathroom and breaks down sobbing. This was after Carl had implied Abagnale Sr. was still alive, but he didn't want to say anything until they were closer to home.
* Mismatched Atomic Expressionism: The intro to the film uses flat, palettized geometric animation to get the viewers in the mood of when this film takes place.
* Missed Him by That Much: During the airport scene, Carl gets a call that they may have found Frank, just as Frank and the stewardesses are walking right behind him.
* Mouthscreen: When Carl realizes Frank has "no one else to call", we get a close-up of Carl's mouth.
* Never Trust a Trailer: Played for Laughs. The trailer makes it seem like Frank posing as a lawyer has plot significance, but it is only a quick gag.
* No Sense of Humor: Hanratty, whose all-business demeanor irks his partners.
* One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Frank asks Brenda's father for permission to marry her. When Frank says that he isn't a doctor or lawyer but just a kid in love with his daughter, Brenda's father thinks Frank's only being sentimental. Also doubles as a Cassandra Truth, as Frank was pretty much confessing he was a fraud. Brenda's father misread it as sentimental.
* Papa Wolf: Mentioned by Frank. Sr. when he lies to Hanratty that Frank is abroad in Vietnam and lied to get recruited. As Hanratty observes some mail and memorizes the addresses, Frank Sr. says that the man must not have kids because no sane parent would give up their child to the cops. Hanratty does have a daughter, and he admits that every parent wants to protect their child.
* Parents as People: It's mentioned that Frank's parents were once in love, but they divorced after he lost his house and car. His mother has an affair and is clearly guilty when Frank discovers it but persists and eventually leaves Frank Sr. Either would have been fine with him choosing them as his primary guardian; Frank made the decision to run away rather than make a choice. Later, his mother offers to write a check to cover the money he's been stealing; Hanratty snarkily says it's $1.3 million, but he seems to understand the intention.
* Parental Obliviousness: Frank's parents never seem overly concerned that their teenage son is a wanted felon being hunted by the FBI. His dad lies to Hanratty's face that Frank is in Vietnam to protect him.
* Pastiche: John Williams' credit tune as well as the accompanying animation are a Shout-Out to The Pink Panther (1963).
* The Perry Mason Method: Subverted. Watching episodes of the show and knowing a thing or two about spotting forgeries and lies does not help Frank prosecute a case. Largely because he overplayed his hand and forgot how much formal procedure there is involved in law practice. Judge: There is no defense, there is no jury. It's just me. Son, what in the hell is wrong with you?
* Precision F-Strike:
** Two words: "knock knock." "Who's there?" "Go fuck yourselves!"
** There's even one in the musical when Carl Hanratty makes the connection between all of Frank Jr.'s fake names.
** Before that, when Frank fools Carl into letting him go, Carl realises he's been duped after looking through the wallet, then throws it across the room, yelling "Oh, goddamn it!"
* Pretty in Mink: Jennifer Garner plays a Fashion Model, first seen in a mink jacket.
* Real Person Cameo: The real Frank Abagnale plays one of the French police officers who finally capture Frank. He's also briefly seen in the game show that opens the film—he's the first person to talk before DiCaprio (whose face was digitally superimposed on the other person pretending to be Frank).
* Reasonable Authority Figure:
** Hanratty is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold that has a dry sense of humor, but we can see he is one of the good guys. He pursues Frank not because he has a vendetta, especially when realizing that Frank is a minor, but because it's his job. Due to being a divorcee, he takes the Christmas shift so his coworkers don't have to miss the holiday. When Frank is caught in France, Hanratty lobbies for him to receive medical care and extradition to the United States. He's also Frank's only visitor in prison, bringing him Christmas gifts and recruiting him for the FBI on seeing how Frank is depressed.
** Hanratty's boss is this as well. He doesn't berate Hanratty for letting Frank walk away while posing as Secret Service; in fact, he advocates the opposite, that Hanratty shouldn't take it badly. When Hanratty says he needs to catch the guy, his boss advises him to not get obsessed, because he has a high success rate and one failure won't mar him.
* Record Needle Scratch: We hear one in-universe when Frank comes back to the apartment while his mother is entertaining her new lover.
* Red Sock Ruins the Laundry: An old woman mistakenly puts a red top in Hanratty’s white laundry, meaning that when Hanratty removes his laundry, it’s turned pink, much to his irritation.
* Reformed Criminal: Frank, at the end of the movie and in Real Life.
* Refuge in Audacity: The other half of the cons. Something Frank learned from his father plays into this as a bit of a Running Gag. "Why do the Yankees always win?" "Because the other teams are too busy looking at the damn pinstripes."
* Running Gag:
** "Two little mice..."
** "Even better."
** "Why do the Yankees always win?"
** "Is this yours?"
* Sexy Stewardess: To complete his impersonation of an airline pilot, Frank hires pretty young women to pose as flight attendants. He told the girls they had won an internship to train as stewardesses. He engineered the whole scheme in order to be able to enter an airport crammed with FBI agents looking for him and walk Right Under Their Noses - knowing that they would never notice him with all those beautiful, vivacious young girls surrounding him! And as a Refuge in Audacity, knowing that the FBI agents would never suspect the conman sneaking into the airport to be the most obvious freaking guy in the place.
* Sherlock Scan: A non-visual example in Hanratty being able to discern clues of Frank's whereabouts from his telephone calls; e.g. he figures out Frank's from New York from his mention of the Yankees, and that he's a kid from his use of the alias Barry Allen.
** Frank himself demonstrates a highly acute attention to detail throughout the film, starting with informing a classmate that her fake "note from mother" is missing a crease to be believable.
** When Carl brings his boss to see Frank in prison, they give him some samples of checks to test his ability to spot fakes. He barely glances at the first one before setting it aside and saying it's a fake. Carl's boss protests that he didn't even look at it, and Frank rattles off a resume of everything that's wrong with the check that disqualifies it from being real.
* Shout-Out:
** Frank uses the alias Barry Allen when pretending to be a secret service agent to escape custody. This is foreshadowed earlier in the film when a couple of issues of The Flash are seen at his bedside when he's still living with his parents.
** Frank turns into a huge James Bond fan at the height of his pulling off his Pan Am pilot con game. (At one point early in his career, Spielberg wanted to direct a Bond movie). He even watches Goldfinger at one point and while being fitted for a suit, his alias is Mr. Fleming.
** Frank watches Dr. Kildare to prep for acting like a convincing doctor, and does the same with Perry Mason later when pretending to be a lawyer.
* Sick Captive Scam: Double Subverted. When Hanratty arrives at the run-down French prison to extradite Frank to the United States, he assumes that Frank's uncontrollable coughing is just him acting in order to attempt another escape. He's legitimately ill and has to be taken to the hospital after he collapses in front of Hanratty. He does attempt to escape while there, but he doesn't get any further than the end of the block before he collapses again. The cops don't even bother running to catch him; they walk coolly.
* Squick: In-Universe: When "Dr" Frank sees the young boy with a broken leg, bleeding, and moaning in pain, he is very squicked and has to hold it in until he gets the other doctors to diagnose the treatment before bolting out to throw-up.
* Stating the Simple Solution: During the opening scene showing Frank's appearance on To Tell the Truth, panelist Kitty Carlisle Hart mentions that Frank is very talented and he could have gone into a legitimate career. On the game show, the impostor Frank says he needed the money. In the film, Frank started doing it to pay the bills but got addicted to the thrill of scamming that much money out of Pan-American Airlines.
* Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
** The toughest con Frank faces in the film turns out to be his very first one after running away from home; trying to get banks to accept his check. With no pre-established credit it turns out no matter what sob story he creates for himself, no bank is willing to cash his check on blind faith alone.
** Frank at his engagement party, upon seeing the FBI storming the premises, runs after confessing to Brenda that he's lied to her about everything, but he loves her and wants to build a new life with her. He gives her enough money to buy a plane ticket in Miami, and asks her to run away with him in a few days. The FBI then enters the room where they were talking just as he hightails it out of the window. A heartbroken Brenda, who learns that her fiance was a teenager several years younger than her, is forced to cooperate with the FBI at the Miami International Airport to catch Frank, or else face prison time in turn. There is also the fact that he lied to her about who he was, which puts a damper on their relationship.
** After travelling around Europe and America committing large scale check fraud, Frank is eventually caught and thrown into a French Hell Hole Prison. He gets an I Told You So from Hanratty.
* Suspicious Spending: Invoked by Frank Sr when Frank wants to buy him a Cadillac. He turns down the offer, pointing out that showing up with an expensive new car when he's already being investigated by the IRS for tax fraud would likely land him in even more trouble.
* Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Agent Carl Hanratty who is dedicated to his job and honoring the law. He also is the first person to treat Frank with genuine sympathy after he's caught.
* Teen Genius: Frank.
* Title Drop: Sort of. "You gotta catch me."
* Troubled, but Cute: Well, he's played by Leonardo DiCaprio, isn't he?
* Villain Protagonist: Frank Abagnale Jr., the protagonist, is an adrift and young counterfeiter and con man who uses his natural cleverness to make some money, and his antagonist, Hanratty, is an FBI agent trying to, well, Catch Him if He Can. In the end Frank with Hanratty's support eventually goes straight.
* Vomit Discretion Shot: Happens when Frank is visibly sickened by the sight of the boy's broken leg in hospital, and throws up in the janitor's closet after leaving the emergency room.
* Wham Line: "Frank, your father is dead."
* What Happened to the Mouse?:
** What happened to Brenda after Frank had to leave her behind?
** What happened to those eight girls that Frank picked for the "Pan Am internship"?
*** They were later interviewed by the FBI, with some rather colorful language from the women involved.
* Wrong Genre Savvy: Frank learned everything he knows about being a doctor and being a lawyer from Dr. Kildare and Perry Mason respectively. His attempts to use this knowledge in actual medical and legal settings just end up confusing his colleagues.
* You Can't Go Home Again: From the moment he runs away, Frank's driving force is to rebuild his happy family. He finally realizes that he can never have that again when he learns is father has died, and his mother has moved on with a new family. He finally stops running and allows Carl to take him in without a fight.
* You Keep Using That Word: "Concur". Frank drops it in a conversation with one of the other doctors at the hospital, just because he thinks "Do you concur?" is a question that all doctors are supposed to ask each other. The word really just means "agree". (Frank watches a medical drama on television) Doctor 1: Do you concur? Doctor 2: I concur! (later, when Frank is called in to respond to an emergency at the hospital) Frank: Gentlemen. What, uh...what seems to be the problem here? Ashland: Bicycle accident. Fractured tibia, about five inches below the patella. Frank: I see. (Beat) Dr. Harris? Do you concur? (Beat) Harris: Concur with what, sir? Frank: With what Dr. Ashland just said. Do you...do you concur? (Beat) Harris: Well... It was a bicycle accident. The boy told us. Frank: So you concur. Harris: "Concur"?
* Younger Than They Look: Frank convinces people that he is a working professional in a variety of careers while still being just a teenager. After his first meeting with Frank, Hanratty pegs him in his mid-to-late twenties. This also helps justify the Dawson Casting of Leonardo DiCaprio.