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Release
Date: December 25, 2002
Rated: PG-13
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Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio,
Tom Hanks, Jennifer Garner, Martin Sheen, Christopher Walken
Produced by: Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes
Written by: Jeff Nathanson
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Distributor:
Dreamworks
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Review Date: December 27, 2002
Catch Me If You Can
Directed by: Steven Spielberg___________________________________
As a pure exercise of fun Catch Me If You Can works pretty well. It has a central character who passes himself off as a number of authority figures by banking on people’s gullibility but not seemingly exploiting or demeaning them in the process. There’s a dogged pursuer and a chase that stretches from coast to coast and into Europe. And there’s a rogues gallery of characters played in a larger than life style by a very gifted cast.
It’s difficult to imagine even the world’s most incompetent director coming up with less than an enjoyable romp given these elements and players. So, why is it that savvy filmmaker Steven Spielberg fumbles the ball to the extent that what begins as sheer delight winds up as just a good, fungible diversion by the closing credit crawl?
Stripped to its bare bones, the film is about 16-year-old Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) who through circumstance and serendipity discovers he has a gift for larceny and the wit and charm to operate with the best of them. Perhaps as a result of his youth he never comes across as a ruthless exploiter of human frailty or someone who will stoop to vile acts to secure money, position or whatever else he desires in life. But even presented in the prankish manner and heady spirit of youth, check kiting and forgery are illegal activities and when they accrue to millions of dollars, law enforcement will not only take notice, it will prosecute to the fullest extent once the culprit is apprehended.
So, the title is a taunt. The bull that sees red is FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). Humorless and work-obsessed, Hanratty is nonetheless impressed by the unknown perpetrator’s ingenuity and skill. At last he’s confronted with a worthy adversary.
The film ought to be a little less fussy and more to the point (read shorter). What’s primarily interesting about the material is that this teenager can pass himself off as an airline pilot, a lawyer, a doctor and even a federal agent. This aspect of the script is well handled. We see process and DiCaprio conveys the charm, braggadocio and ability to think fast on his feet to pull off these charades. In that respect, Catch Me If You Can recalls The Great Imposter, the 1962 film about Fred Demara - another real-life con man -that starred Tony Curtis.
My recollection of the earlier film is that it had a dollop of pop psychology - no more. It’s truly the inability to toss off the tale in a jaunty manner that makes it less interesting as it proceeds. What it calls into question is what’s wrong with movies in general. Let’s just say they’re too serious and self-important (a complaint that can also be leveled at contemporary film criticism). It’s as if the cost of making movies has come to dictate their gravity when in truth the most appropriately serious work is being done in the margins on budgets that often fall below $1 million.
One senses that the film began as a lark and a bad case of cold feet led those involved to add “depth.” Frank Jr. adores his father (Christopher Walken), a man whose dreams exceed his grasp. His more clear-sighted mother (Nathalie Baye) - yet another demonized woman - forces the family apart and rather than chose between them, Frank flees … to a life of crime. When his father dies off-screen, luckily the young man has acquired a surrogate in Hanratty. It’s all a little too neat and tidy and Psyche 101.
The film has wonderful moments that occur in a kind of strategic fashion that keeps ones attention. For instance, a double reversal involving the first encounter between Hanratty and Abagnale is virtually worth the price of admission. Catch Me If You Can remains a little too assured and confident in general and lacking in the inspired and off-beat. Spielberg has assembled a team of artists who are long-time collaborators and provide a comforting professionalism to the picture. The exception is new to the team designer Jeannine Oppewall whose work is unconstrained, whimsical and, appropriately, brash.
A DreamWorks release of a Kemp Co. and Splendid Pictures production and Parkes/MacDonald production. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Director, Spielberg. Screenplay, Jeff Nathanson, based upon the book by Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding.Camera, Janusz Kaminski. Editor, Michael Kahn. Music, John Williams. Production design, Jeannine Oppewall. Costumes, Mary Zophres.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Frank Abagnale, Jr.), Tom Hanks (Carl Hanratty), Christopher Walken (Frank Abagnale), Martin Sheen (Roger Strong), Nathalie Baye (Paula Abagnale), Amy Adams (Brenda Strong).
