’’Catch Me If You Can’’ is an attempt for director Steven Spielberg to return to lighter fare after the darker sci-fi/noir efforts ’’A.I.’’ and ’’Minority Report’’. As basic entertainment, ’’Catch’’ is certainly worth viewing, fun and both nicely crafted and acted.
Based on the truly story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), it’s the swingin’ 50’s and 15-year-old Frank is having a rough time. His parents on the verge of financial collapse, mom soon splits (Nathalie Baye), leaving dad (Christopher Walken, in an Oscar-nominated performance) to pick up the pieces. But Frank Jr. decides to run, and run he does. Over the next five years, he will orchestrate one of the most famous scams in American history. With FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) hot on his trail, Abagnale weaves a trail of ingenious cons and broken hearts, successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor, an assistant attorney general and a history professor. Along the way he passes more than $2.5 million in fraudulent checks across 26 countries. Like all criminals, no matter how smart, he will eventually be caught. But more important is what redemption, if any, lies at the end of the runway.
Spielberg and DiCaprio handle all of the expected scenarios with wit and charm (impersonating a flight officer, his first big day on the job at a hospital, etc.), and the pace is surprisingly snappy given the film’s rather overlong 2 hour plus runtime. The real heart of this movie lies in the relationship between the two Franks, Jr. and Sr., which is paralleled effectively in the Hanks-DiCaprio cat-and-mouse game. Tom Hanks sleepwalks through this role.
Photoraphy: Shot by frequent Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, the picture has a rich, bright and slightly soft appearance, Spielberg has great fun with all the period detail, jazzy colors and soft-focus glamour.
Sound: There isn’t much to do here as this mostly a dialogue driven movie. So there arent many surround sound effects to encompass the viewer. Score by John Williams is well suited to the period.
Direction: Looks like Speilberg wanted to have a break after giving us all the huge blockbusters and mega movies. He is clearly enjoying the break and having fun.
Overall enough fun to make it worth a catch.