Catch Me If You Can - A Review 01/09/2003
This character-driven film based on the true-life story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. is directed by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Schindler's List, Jaws) and stars Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, Big) as FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, Leonardo DiCaprio (Man In The Iron Mask, Titanic) as Frank junior. Chrisotperh Walken (Sleepy Hollow, Suicide Kings, Brainstorm) has a supporting role as Frank senior. Martin Sheen and James Brolin also appear.
Frank Jr. is a 19 year old con man that sees his father's business ruined and his mother leave them for another man. He goes out on a mission to live the good life, and using his natural abilities and intelligence, successfully poses as several different people such as airline pilot, doctor and lawyer. Along the way he manages to break a "few" laws - most notably forging checks - and attract the attention of the FBI in the person of Agent Hanratty. Thus starts the cat-and-mouse game between the two men. Solid, enjoyable performances are turned in by all the cast as you'd expect from the talent arrayed. There isn't a lot of character development other than Frank's as he plunges deeper and deeper into the world of crime, running faster and faster as the game plays out to its conclusion.
Set in the late '60s-early 70's, the styles - and colors - are loud and eye-catching. The color palette is a bit stylized and faintly gritty looking in most shots although a couple of night scenes did not show this. A good bit of detail was put into getting the period props correct - from cars to furniture to sidearms to costumes.
Audio is about as expected for a non-action film. Dialog is clean and clear throughout. Surrounds are used sparingly. Let's just say that the audio gets out of the way and doesn't call attention to itself.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed Catch Me If You Can. I'm not the world's biggest Leo fan, but this performance "caught" my attention. If he backs this up with a good role in Gangs Of New York I may have to re-think my position on him. This movie didn't knock me over, but it did slowly pull me in and at the end had me rooting for Frank. If anything, I do wish there had been more development of Tom Hanks' character, but that's a minor issue.
I give Catch Me If You Can :3: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
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This character-driven film based on the true-life story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. is directed by Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Schindler's List, Jaws) and stars Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, Big) as FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, Leonardo DiCaprio (Man In The Iron Mask, Titanic) as Frank junior. Chrisotperh Walken (Sleepy Hollow, Suicide Kings, Brainstorm) has a supporting role as Frank senior. Martin Sheen and James Brolin also appear.
Frank Jr. is a 19 year old con man that sees his father's business ruined and his mother leave them for another man. He goes out on a mission to live the good life, and using his natural abilities and intelligence, successfully poses as several different people such as airline pilot, doctor and lawyer. Along the way he manages to break a "few" laws - most notably forging checks - and attract the attention of the FBI in the person of Agent Hanratty. Thus starts the cat-and-mouse game between the two men. Solid, enjoyable performances are turned in by all the cast as you'd expect from the talent arrayed. There isn't a lot of character development other than Frank's as he plunges deeper and deeper into the world of crime, running faster and faster as the game plays out to its conclusion.
Set in the late '60s-early 70's, the styles - and colors - are loud and eye-catching. The color palette is a bit stylized and faintly gritty looking in most shots although a couple of night scenes did not show this. A good bit of detail was put into getting the period props correct - from cars to furniture to sidearms to costumes.
Audio is about as expected for a non-action film. Dialog is clean and clear throughout. Surrounds are used sparingly. Let's just say that the audio gets out of the way and doesn't call attention to itself.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed Catch Me If You Can. I'm not the world's biggest Leo fan, but this performance "caught" my attention. If he backs this up with a good role in Gangs Of New York I may have to re-think my position on him. This movie didn't knock me over, but it did slowly pull me in and at the end had me rooting for Frank. If anything, I do wish there had been more development of Tom Hanks' character, but that's a minor issue.
I give Catch Me If You Can :3: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
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