One of Steven Spielberg’s best films, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is all the more startling in the fact that it’s the true story of the world’s greatest con man, who accomplished more before turning 20 years old than most of us knock out in a lifetime.
The reliably terrific Leonardo DiCaprio stars as young Frank Abagnale Jr.
Watching his small time con-man father Frank Sr. (Christopher Walken) dazzle his way through life and his French mother’s love for them both, he seems content. But as his father’s cons start to catch up with them and their suburban life forces their hand, Frank goes on the run.
The brilliance of the film is its fast-paced, detailed and fascinating depiction of Frank’s deep and furious descent from small time bad check writer to the most wanted fraud and con man in the USA.
Attracting the attention of the FBI and its most dogged agent Carl Hanratty, (Tom Hanks) Frank moves quickly. Soon, he’s masquerading as a Pan Am Co-Pilot, traveling over 2 million miles on the airline’s dime and cashing huge checks all over the world.
When the trail gets hot, Frank decides to become a doctor, then a lawyer.
How far the young man gets in every thing he pursues is hilarious, impressive and one hell of a story. DiCaprio is excellent in every facet of his portrayal of young Frank. His arc from a scared kid watching his family unit collapsing in front of him to a confident con artist living the high life and facing off with the odds every day is always believable.
Hanks matches him step for step as Carl. The two form an odd bond as they begin to realize that they are both alone in life. Their Christmas Eve calls to each other form a solid core for the film as Carl’s chase goes on holiday after holiday.
Christopher Walken is excellent, capturing his pride and fear for his son as the game escalates. Martin Sheen adds a ton of fun as an important Louisiana lawyer and a very young Amy Adams is great as Brenda, the girl that Frank truly loves that may end his game for good.
John Williams’s music is excellent throughout and the period settings are perfect. Who doesn’t miss the glamour of Pan American?
The main titles are fantastic, designed by true artists named Oliver Kuntzel and Florence Deygas. They stand alongside “Bullitt” and “Goldfinger” as the best title sequences of the past 50 years. I stopped the film to go back and watch them three times. It's brilliant visual storytelling that kicks the film off in style. Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLDyrun_Cc
With terrific movies like this, Spielberg will never go out of style. Only he could take some of the dark elements of this story and make them so entertaining. Hanks and DiCaprio make you care about these two men on opposite sides of a crime spree.
I was fortunate enough to see the Broadway musical version of this film in New York with Aaron Tviet and Norbert Leo Butz in the roles of Frank and Carl. It was one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen. We saw it again in LA with lesser actors in the roles and it didn’t hold up quite as well, but Tviet and Butz gave DiCaprio and Hanks a run.
Speaking of running, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN never stops and earns an A+ and a spot in my all-time Top 100 films.
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