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arts-culture/reviews
Date Posted:
1/24/03


Catch Me if You Can--Untouchable, Uncatchable, Unforgettable!

by: Outside Contributor, Tom Hoy


"Catch Me If You Can" is an extremely fun and often hilarious movie. You'll find yourself laughing a lot through it, not just because it's funny, but marveling at the main character's luck, cleverness, and the sheer coincidence and fun of the situations he gets into, and how he escapes them.

Catch Me If You Can is the latest film from director Steven Spielberg. Coming off the dark, intense, and thought-provoking Minority Report (one of the best movies of recent memory), "Catch" is a relief. It is instantly watchable and entertaining. It is about a kid named Frank Abagnale Jr., who committed around 4 million dollars worth of check fraud. And he did it all before his 19th birthday.


Leonardo DiCaprio (on a roll now, after the magnificent "Gangs of New York") plays the lead of Frank Abagnale Jr. He has played on the perfect note as a very likeable, persuasive, and charming person, but also as a chameleon – someone whose personality you would remember but whose looks you would not. The movie also never lets us forget that he is still just a kid, and carries a naïve quality throughout. Tom Hanks plays Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent who pursues Abagnale. He is a total workaholic dork. He wears horn-rimmed glasses, works on Christmas Eve, and takes everything very seriously. It is an excellent contrast. Abagnale makes love to a gorgeous woman, while Hanratty pulls his white (now pink) work shirts out of the wash at a Laundromat because some old lady accidentally put in a red sweater.

The cons Frank pulls and the people he impersonates are a pure joy to watch. I must give away a few small things to give you an idea of what is in the movie. When Frank goes to a new school, and sees no teacher at the front of the room, he grabs a textbook and immediately tells the class to open their books and start a new lesson. Another is when Hanratty corners him in a hotel room and Frank instantaneously acts like an officer from a rival law-enforcement agency. These are pulled off with such wit and cleverness that they are great to watch. Don't worry, I haven't given away much. There are plenty of things like this that are even better.

In all this fun, the movie does tackle some serious subjects. Abagnale has a great deal of fun, but most of the time is a sad and lonely kid. His only serious lasting relationships are with his father and the man chasing him. Hanratty is the same way: a lonely man buried in his work. Both are very lonely and do not have much in the way of personal lives. The movie addresses their emotional sides honestly and earnestly without making the movie either soul-searching, or sentimental, which wouldn't work in a movie like this.

Catch Me If You Can has a few detractors. Some scenes seem like unnecessary rehashes of things that come before. One scene in particular is too melodramatic and not needed. This denies the movie some focus as it dips into things that make it overlong and too sentimental. However, these are minor things that really do not hurt the movie much, and its feeling, characters, and fun remain intact.

It also has a few little things going for it. It has a great jazz soundtrack that fits the situation and mood really, really well, although one tune by John Williams is so bright and happy, I could throw up. It features the coolest sequence of opening credits I've ever seen. It's totally animated, surprising, and original.

Catch Me If You Can is fun, honest, and easy to watch. It deals with its issues without getting too heavy handed, and many of its scenes are impeccably crafted. It's very good to watch if you want to sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself.

4/5

When you go see it, remember that the author of the James Bond novels is Ian Fleming. I was the only one in the theater who laughed at an especially clever joke.

 

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