Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can

Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can" was visually stunning and generally just a really fun, entertaining movie all the way through. This came out in 2002, a whole 6 years before Steven Spielberg and George Lucas decided to completely destroy Indiana Jones and leave him writhing in pain (although I still love Steven Spielberg - anyone who directed "Jaws," the "Indiana Jones" trilogy, "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan," etc is great by me...so I blame George Lucas and his unhealthy obsession with computer generated effects and ruining franchises). Well anyway, the cast of "Catch Me If You Can" is amazing and includes the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio (who is actually a really good actor - I'm just a little indifferent toward him), Tom Hanks (who is one of my favorite actors and one of the best actors of the past 20 years or so), Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, and Martin Sheen. Most know the story but here goes anyway: Leonardo DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr., a brilliant con artist who made millions of dollars by pretending to be a doctor, pilot, and lawyer. This was all done before he turned 19, which is why I referred to him as a brilliant con artist instead of just a normal one who takes a while to learn his "trade" (this movie is based off a true story by the way, for those who didn't see/read that on the poster above). Then Tom Hanks comes in as the FBI man, Carl Hanratty who tries for a few years to catch Abagnale...if he can. The movie starts in 1964 and finishes up 3 years later with a little bit of switching back and forth from the past to the present. This works well for the movie and helps get a look at how the events unfold. Leonardo DiCaprio is convincing as Abagnale and is great at faking various jobs as well as having some good on screen chemistry (although different kinds) with Christopher Walken (Frank Abagnale Sr.), Tom Hanks, and Amy Adams. The music is fantastic, which is what I personally have come to expect from John Williams who composes the scores for all Steven Spielberg movies. It fits the comedic/dramatic tones of the movie extremely well. The cinematography is great to look at as well, having some portions of a scene out of focus, close ups of characters, and just general very fluid, wonderful camera work. This was done by Janusz Kaminski (one of the few reasons why "Funny People" wasn't a terrible movie), who is a great cinematographer, just look at all the other movies that he worked on with Steven Spielberg. The movie suceeds at being at times very serious while never forgetting to throw a fair amount of humor in there. The dialogue is great and good thing too, because wasting this cast and crew would have been a terrible thing. "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" won Steven Spielberg a combined 3 Academy Awards and are such great, powerful movies, destined to become classic. But don't let that take away from "Catch Me if You Can" which proves that as of 2002 Steven Spielberg could still round up a great group of people to work with and make a memorable film.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2003)

BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the extraordinary true story of a brilliant young master of deception and the FBI agent hot on his trail, "Catch Me If You Can" stars Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio and two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks in one of the year's most acclaimed hits! From three-time Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg, "Catch Me If You Can" follows Frank W. Abagnale Jr. as he successfully passes himself off as a pilot, a lawyer and a doctor - all before his 21st birthday!

FILM REVIEW: There's an old saying, "you can't make up real life." If you were to look at the story for "Catch Me If You Can", you would probably think it's unbelievable, but it all actually happened. Real-life con man Frank Abagnale was able to impersonate many roles (doctor, lawyer, airline pilot etc) as well as make perfect counterfeit money to fund his extravagant lifestyle all before the age of 21. Steven Spielberg's film version of his con-man life is a light, breezy piece of entertainment that will keep you enthralled as you watch Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) get away with so many things that most of us wouldn't even dream of getting away with. That's not to say he is being watched, most specifically by FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) who eventually catches him when Frank's exploits finally exceed his reach. This is a delightful change of pace for legendary director Steven Spielberg, who gives us a fun, character-driven, light-hearted film that doesn't feel any where as long as its two-hour plus running time.
Leonardo DiCaprio does a great job as Frank Abagnale, effectively creating a character who has no predilection to feel remorse at defrauding so many people and institutions. He's doing it for his father (played effectively by Christopher Walken) who did it tough his whole life and eventually lost his business and wife to harder times. Tom Hanks on the other hand takes a surprising supporting role, as the understanding, but unremorseful FBI agent who tracks down Frank and his exploits. Hanks plays Handratty with a sincere enthusiasm and frustration as Frank slips through his fingers time and time again. Perhaps the funniest scene is when Handratty meets Frank for the first time but doesn't realise it as Frank is able to impersonate a CIA agent and leave the scene before Handratty finds out he's been had. There's also a fine supporting cast which includes Martin Sheen, Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams.
Much of Spielberg's predilection for the father/son dynamic relationship that has been present in many of his previous films is once again on display in this film, although there something's more real about the way he stages the interactions between Frank Jr. and Frank Sr. A particularly touching moment occurs when Frank Jr. takes his father to a fancy restaurant for lunch and Frank Sr. recalls meeting his wife and he breaks down in tears. If you watch the documentary on the DVD you'll see that this was ad-libbed, and goes to show some of Spielberg's instincts in finding something special to put on screen.
The production design and visuals look wonderful in this film. There's a recreation of the 1960's that is faithfully presented, particularly with the colours, costumes and corporations of the time. Pan Am for example hasn't been in business for quite some time but all of the uniforms and logos have been faithfully recreated for the film. There's an authenticity to it all that is very rarely matched in films of a similar type. The visuals are once again spot on for a Spielberg film; he really knows how to use the camera, but this time he seems to do it as a throw-away (ie not drawing any attention to it). The story moves so quickly that there isn't enough time to focus on that, but Spielberg does manage to create some beautiful pictures which go hand in hand with Frank's extravagant lifestyle.
The story ends with Frank's capture, but not before we get a text epilogue which explains how Frank, after he got out of prison, eventually went to work for the FBI in catching people who commit fraud. This is an ironic end for this talented, if misguided young man who's methods for catching out fraudsters are still used by the FBI to this day (particularly in counterfeit money production).
"Catch Me If You Can" is a light, fun and breezy piece of entertainment. It's like an old-fashioned style film, and a breath of fresh air.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The video transfer of this film is exceptional; you will see some film grain but that's more because of Spielberg's filming tastes rather than any issues with the transfer. The picture is vibrant, colourful and crisp. The soundtrack is likewise exceptional, although given this is a more dialogue driven film there isn't as much use for the surround sound but there are some great moments, particularly in the opening scenes with Tom Hanks where it's raining outside and you can hear the individual drops. Great work. An excellent transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras on this DVD are broadly split up into a number of making-of featurettes which are all quite informative and entertaining. The featurettes focus on Spielberg's directing style, the cast, the real life Frank Abagnale, the music score with John Williams, an FBI perspective and a summary featurette by Spielberg. I particularly liked the coverage on the real Abagnale; the idea that this almost all happened for real is quite mind boggling and just goes to show how you can't make up real life. Another interesting tidbit is that Spielberg did not initiate this story, rather it was DiCaprio's baby and he sought it out. There's also a photo gallery, additional French and German language tracks, and subtitles (English, French, German, Bulgarian, Arabic). Overall, a solid collection of extras.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.

FILM RATING: 8/10 -- EXTRAS RATING: 7.5/10 -- OVERALL DVD RATING: 7.5/10 

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Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net