When 16 year old Frank pretends to be a substitute French teacher in his new school and gets caught only after a week, I'm sure no one expected him to go ahead and don the garbs of an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. And not to mention the millions of dollars he stole by check fraud. All this he did even before he finished high school!
Yeah, as you've probably guessed this is a true story because I'm pretty sure no one can make up one like that, ever! Welcome to the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., son of a once prosperous merchant who runs away from home unable to take in the news of his parents' divorce and flies as a copilot with Pan Am, works as a pediatrician in Georgia and practices law in Louisiana! Minting money as he does by forging checks, Frank jumps countries evading arrest and escaping prisons with FBI agent Carl Hanratty hot on his trail.
Yeah, as you've probably guessed this is a true story because I'm pretty sure no one can make up one like that, ever! Welcome to the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., son of a once prosperous merchant who runs away from home unable to take in the news of his parents' divorce and flies as a copilot with Pan Am, works as a pediatrician in Georgia and practices law in Louisiana! Minting money as he does by forging checks, Frank jumps countries evading arrest and escaping prisons with FBI agent Carl Hanratty hot on his trail.
Catch me if you can, one of Spielberg's smaller scale films though appears to have a fairly simple plot of a crime drama has a lot hidden in it. There's the trauma that a much loved child faces seeing his parents separate and his natural brilliance put into the wrong use. The loneliness his acts force him to even though he appears to have practically everything one can dream of. The constant urge to be something he is not, almost every government in the world after him, the love for his father, the undying wish to see his parents unite. All these themes make this film a wonderful watch.
To top that we have some amazing performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in the lead roles along with Spielberg's masterstroke in his direction. From ages 13 to 26, DiCaprio is nothing short of perfect. Even the real Abagnale loved his performance and that’s saying something! And the fact that this story of a fraud is based on a real one only makes it more awesome.
"An honest man has nothing to fear. I'll try my best to be fearless." Frank runs around being a professional pain-in-the-ass all before he turned 19! The beauty of this story is, it’s just one brilliant teenager against the governments of the world and you can’t help liking the criminal here. Of course some parts are visibly exaggerated but they are fair in their own way as in Frank’s own words, the book was slightly an exaggeration of his life and the film an exaggeration of the book.
Not a marvel of western cinema, I agree but this 140 minute film is worth every moment you spend on it. A wonderful story with many themes and personally one of my favourite films!
To top that we have some amazing performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in the lead roles along with Spielberg's masterstroke in his direction. From ages 13 to 26, DiCaprio is nothing short of perfect. Even the real Abagnale loved his performance and that’s saying something! And the fact that this story of a fraud is based on a real one only makes it more awesome.
"An honest man has nothing to fear. I'll try my best to be fearless." Frank runs around being a professional pain-in-the-ass all before he turned 19! The beauty of this story is, it’s just one brilliant teenager against the governments of the world and you can’t help liking the criminal here. Of course some parts are visibly exaggerated but they are fair in their own way as in Frank’s own words, the book was slightly an exaggeration of his life and the film an exaggeration of the book.
Not a marvel of western cinema, I agree but this 140 minute film is worth every moment you spend on it. A wonderful story with many themes and personally one of my favourite films!