Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Dir Steven Spielberg

Written by Jeff Nathanson, Frank Abagnale Jr, Stan Redding

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, James Brolin, Jennifer Garner, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Pompeo,

Over a period of six years between 1963-1969 Frank Abagnale became the youngest conman in United States history. This tells the story of how he was able to steal over $4m with fraudulent cheques, and how he conned his way into different jobs, relationships, and the close encounters with law enforcement.

Told in a relatively easy to follow non linear narrative, DiCaprio is well cast as Abagnale. and was still fortunate to have his youthful appearance to play teenager. There is some suspension in disbelief in some scenes, especially when he is clearly playing the 16 year old Frank, and his almost 30 year old appearance is a little jarring. There is nothing inherently bad in his performance, but he is has done so much better in other films.

Hanks, too is only ‘okay’ as Hanratty, the FBI agent who is in charge of tracking Frank down. He feels a little underused.

The direction by Speilberg is also ‘just’ fine, but not exceptional. There are only a few shots that feel like they add extra substance to the scene they are in, other than these few it feels fairly ordinary.

This is on IMDB’s top 250 list, and to me it does not feel like it was worth it. The two Oscar nominations (Walken for Best Supporting Actor and John Williams for Best Score) feel almost obligatory, as both their contributions to the film are also not their best work.

Despite the praise this film gets, I didn’t love this one.

2.5/5