Catch Me If You Can
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr.
Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty
Jennifer Garner as Cheryl Ann
Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale, Sr.
Amy Adams as Brenda Strong
Martin Sheen as Roger Strong
Frank John Hughes as Tom Fox
Brian Howe as Earl Amdursky
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Rater #2 has description and review
Rater #1
8/10. Now, to start off, I was very interested with the opening sequence. I'm talking about the credits. That was very clever on how they basicly depicted what he did throughout the movie.
I was impressed with the movie all the way around. I'm also a fan of Steven Spielberg's work, so maybe that sways my rating. Just kidding. It was directed brilliantly. I was also impressed that he took wanted to take this type of a genre. He's usually into space, or aliens, or some unreal thing that hasn't happened yet, ie: A.I., Minority Report, Jurrasic Park..etc.
I thought the whole entire idea of this was awesome, and to think that someone ACTUALLY did this. Leonardo's character was a real guy. He scammed banks. On a recent interview, the real scammer, who now works for the F.B.I. chasing down other check frauds, said it would be a lot eaiser now adays with computer technology to produce check frauds.
Personally, I think the acting was pretty well done by 3 characters. First, Leonardo DiCaprio did an excellent job as Frank Jr. Though I don't think it was believeable that he was supposed to be 16 or something. 2nd was Tom Hanks. Even though we don't find out much about him, he never gives up. He persists throughout the whole movie. 3rd was Christopher Walken as Frank Sr. He was an interesting character just trying to get people to do his biddings.
Frank Jr. always seemed to want to get caught. He never really wanted to do it, but because of his parent's divorce, he ran. I thought that was quite interesting. I also agree with Rater #2 about how Frank makes his first Pam Am checks. It's really truly funny.
Anyway, this is a great movie and should be seen.
Rater #2
8/10. Catch Me If You Can starts off with a boom with a very suave opening
credits sequence, where sample people are chasing/being chased and
using the credits to hide. Very clever, like the rest of the movie.
Then we go to Marseille, France, where Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) is
talking to Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) and he is released
from prison. We are then taken six years earlier, to 1963.
Frank's father, Frank Sr. (Christopher Walken) is a grifter of sorts,
but nothing major. He's being investigated for tax fraud. And when
Frank's mother Paula (Nathalie Baye) is caught cheating, Frank leaves
home and first tries out theft in his father's petty ways. Soon he
gets way over his head and becomes infamous for writing checks, and
soon he's stolen over $4 million. But Hanratty and the FBI is close
onto Frank, but always one step behind.
I have got to hand it to Steven Spielberg-taking a concept that
people like I haven't heard of (gotta read the book!) and
manipulating it into a multi-layered story of cat-and-mouse. Of
course, it could have been better if there had been more sub-plots.
It's mainly Frank having fun and Hanratty chasing him. Also,
Hanratty's person needed more depth, but I'll talk about that later.
Catch Me If You Can has a good deal of humor for a movie billed as a
drama. Its opening credit sequence and Frank's schemes took most of
the humor. During his first day at a new school, at a French class,
there's no teacher, so why not act as one? That was his first step to
stardom, so to speak. I love how he made the checks at PanAm (I'll
keep it a surprise). The first half was better than the second half,
because it was funnier and more involved. The first half had
information about the family and his jobs as a PanAm pilot, doctor,
and lawyer. Of course, he hasn't had any training, and it's always
worth a laugh to see him struggle. The second half took itself too
seriously, and had the now-famous Spielberg fake ending, but at least
it wasn't as severe as AI or Minority Report.
Depth of the characters, you ask? The movie focused most of the time
on Frank, Jr., of course, but we do know some about Frank, Sr. His
mother was very underdeveloped and could have been utilized better.
Hanratty, we don't really know much about, so it's hard to get deep
into his character (but you did get to like Frank). We do learn about
his past at the end, but that's kind of unnecessary, isn't it?
Leo, I'm not sure if he deserved a Golden Globe nomination, but he
was very good. I enjoyed his "dapper dan" attitude, which is what the
whole movie was like. It didn't find itself serious (until the end),
so it allowed some sort of suave cockiness, which added to the fun
and the authentic feel of the 60s (not that I would know, of course).
Hanks, with his usual Southern accent, seemed fine (nothing like The
Green Mile, though). All of the supporting characters knew their
parts (and the one-liners didn't overact or anything!). Jennifer
Garner, as a prostitute, is waster and not really needed, mainly just
to get to the overlong 140 minute runtime.
It's really fun and unpredictable (except the ending); you don't know
how Frank is going to conjure up his next scheme. Sure, it tried to
get sappy at the end, but it made you feel good, and that's what
great movies are all about.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language.
Running time: 140 minutes
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