Review 7: Catch Me If You Can (2002)

The last Leonardo DiCaprio movie for the week, Catch Me If You Can was a fun film with a great performance by Tom Hanks and DiCaprio. In fact, this Steven Spielberg movie from 2002 is a veritable who’s who of modern Hollywood. Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Gardner, James Brolin, and Ellen Pompeo all show up at some point or another to show their acting chops.
I remember seeing trailers for this and dismissing it because I was twenty and still spiteful towards DiCaprio and the affection he received from females my age. I’d never given it another thought until I’d heard someone speaking about it on a podcast a few months ago. I ordered it and it’s been on my shelf for the last month. I was delayed getting to this as I had to go to a soccer game for my high school, but I was determined not to put this off despite the over two hour run-time.

The movie was extremely intriguing and the fact that it’s based on a true story only made it more interesting. Frank Abagnale Jr. (DiCaprio) gets his first taste of being a con-artist when his new school mistakes him as a substitute teacher. After a week of pretending to be a sub, the ruse is foiled and his parents called in. Not long after his dad (Walken) loses almost everything due to issues with the IRS, he loses his wife, too, which sends Frank Jr. into a world of fraud. Frank Jr quickly develops an aptitude for lying and creating fraudulent checks in a fevered attempt to reclaim what was taken from his family.

Agent Carl Hanratty (Hanks) of the FBI begins pursuit of Frank Jr.’s bad checks which leads to a comical initial meeting between to the two characters. The exploits of Frank Jr. are both entertaining and sad as, unlike DiCaprio’s character in Wolf of Wall Street, Frank is not a despicable villain but instead he is a young kid desperately trying to rebuild his once picture, perfect family. This dynamic makes the criminal activity of Frank Jr. less repulsive and more comedic as the audience makes a note of the lack of malice of each crime committed.

DiCaprio’s first encounter with Becky (Adams) was probably my favorite scene in the film, simply because it made me proclaim aloud, “Man, DiCaprio really is a fantastic actor.” I’ve spend a lot of time catching up on some of his best performances and the guy really brings it. The only negative example I’ve been able to bring from his acting past is his breaking Irish accent in Gangs of New York. In this scene, where a young man is flirting with a candy striper in order to get information about the hospital, the charm and charisma pours out of DiCaprio, past Amy Adams, and through the television. He is totally committed to the scene and it just reminded me of all of his other magnificent performances. Can we get this guy an Oscar already?

Before I wrap this up, I’ve got to at least comment on Spielberg’s directing choices. The scene that pays tribute to James Bond was fantastic. The shots of the characters feet following the young man’s commitment to becoming Bondesque, slowly revealing Jennifer Gardner’s entrance into the film is just fun and feels like a spy movie. Overall, another strong showing from one of the most celebrated directors in the industry.

I give Catch me if you Can 7 out of 10 stars and DiCaprio’s acting career a 9 out of 10 overlooked Oscar Trophies.