|  "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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