Catch Me If You Can Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)December 30th, 2002
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Steven Spielberg's Christmastime film is based on the true story of a young con artist who by turns acted as a pilot for an airline, practiced medicine for a hospital, and practiced law, all without authentic training. He passed millions of dollars in counterfeit checks, all before he reached the age of 22. Spielberg directs a lower profile film than his usual fare, but one that is a pleasure to take in and be taken in. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
Famous test pilot Chuck Yeager was asked how he managed to survive what appeared to be certain death in a plummeting plane. His strategy, he said, was just to keep his head and keep doing the next thing to do. More than once that strategy saved his life. James Lovell said that was what he was doing on Apollo 13. The rules are simple: Don't panic. Think quickly. Don't give up. A similar philosophy was adopted by another high-flyer, though not one as idealistic. Frank W. Abagnale, Jr., was one of the most natural and successful con men in the United States in the late 1960s. After a six-year spree he was captured by the French police at the ripe old age of twenty-two. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is his story and the story of Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent who tracked and captured Abagnale.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN recalls the 1960 film THE GREAT IMPOSTER, which may well have helped inspire the real-life Abagnale. Christopher Walken plays Frank W. Abagnale, Sr., a con man who takes his son on some of his cons. For the senior Frank, crime does not pay and he ends up losing his house and his family. Son Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) takes to conning very naturally. When he is sent to a new high school, he quickly decides that it is more fun to be a teacher and passes himself off as the substitute French teacher. He manages for a week, honing his skill of appearing to know more than he actually does. Soon he is using those skills to impersonate an airline co-pilot and is flying all over the country. He funds his way by counterfeiting airline checks. And the film is a short education in the techniques of fraudsters. From there, one thing leads to another. And one thing that is led to is the FBI chasing Abagnale. In charge of the case is Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), a low-profile but dedicated agent. From 1964 to 1970 Abagnale leads the FBI on a merry chase using his good looks and self-assurance to convince people of the most amazing lies.
Abagnale has an unerring skill for using people not quite sure themselves and convincing them that he really knows what he is talking about. We see that as a supposed doctor managing other doctors, his assumed medical skills are rarely called upon. He frequently gets the knowledge he needs watching medical shows on television. He emulates the behavior of television and even the phrasing of television doctors. People expect that behavior since, after all, that is the way the doctors on television behave. Frequently, however, he does seem to have knowledge beyond what is explainable by those means. The film implies that occasionally he has to study really hard, but his managing to collect all the information he needs about counterfeiting checks without ever making a fatal mistake along the way is still somewhat amazing.
Abagnale has only two lasting relationships. One is with his father whose life of crime has made him a failure contrasted the son who is making a success of it. Perhaps the difference is that the son is an incredibly fast learner and has an attention to detail that would probably have made him a success in a more honest enterprise. He has an unflappable cool, which he apparently bases on James Bond. We see him studying GOLDFINGER to get points from 007. The other relationship is with Agent Hanratty. Abagnale is leading a life of glamorous opulence while Hanratty sits in laundromats. Abagnale calls Hanratty each Christmas Eve initially to rub his nose in the agent's inability to catch him, but with a growing sense of friendship. Hanratty is something of a nerd with looking absurd in his tapered 1960s-style hat. He is clearly impressed with skill of his flamboyant quarry. Abagnale exploits his youthful appearance, perhaps the most honest thing about him. At twenty-eight, DiCaprio looks like he might be a teenager who might easily convince people he was in his late twenties. Christopher Walken's performance is subdued, but one of his better ones. He gives the air of a man tired out by the energy needed to be constantly leading a double and triple life. Martin Sheen turns in a half-comic performance including what looks like a fake overbite.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN starts building its 1960s mood from the opening credits, done in animation in a style that has since gone out of fashion. One slightly artificial move along these lines, though not as extreme as we frequently see, is the extensive use of period media: TV, music on the soundtrack, even comic books, to place the setting at the right point in time. Spielberg further sets the memory feeling by using a hazy lens, perhaps smeared with Vaseline, to complete the image. Of course the score is by John Williams, continuing a partnership with Spielberg of twenty-one films over twenty-eight years.
Steven Spielberg's original plan for his 1941 was to do a small, modest film. It did not work out that way. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, comes as close to an unspectacular film of modest scale as any dramatic work we have seen from Spielberg for a long time. I rate CATCH ME IF YOU CAN a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
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