Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

8/10

Starring

Leonardo DiCaprio

Tom Hanks

Christopher Walken

Directed by Steven Spielberg

The moment my friend told me there was a movie being done by Steven Spielberg and it will have Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken in the cast I was hooked. I recall back then I was not much of a DiCaprio fan mainly because I was not much of a Titanic film, but this movie placed him front and center for my respect as an actor. The movie is more than captivating, you are so impressed by the cons that Frank was able to pull and how he always seems to be one step ahead of the game in every con.

The movie is based on a book by Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding. Frank Abagnale was amazing as a conman by his nineteenth birthday performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a pilot, a doctor and a prosecutor. But Frank’s main con was check fraud. He was so good at it that, he started working for the FBI to catch other fraudsters.

The movie introduces us to a young man who had the confidence of a god. After hard times fell on his father Frank Sr. (Christopher Walken) the family had to move. His mother started having an affair with is father’s friend and Frank was sad by everything happening at home.

When he started a new school and a bully tried to get the best of him, he decided to get revenge. He enters the same class as the bully posing as the teacher. He embarrasses the bully and continued to teach for week until he was caught when he tried to take the class on excursion.

When his parents separated, he ran away from home and when his money finished, he started his scams.

He stole millions when he worked as a pilot and continued till when an FBI bank fraud agent Carl (Tom Hanks) starts to track him down and their paths cross. Frank was able to outsmart Carl with another confident con, making Carl feel stupid. Frank did this by posing as an officer.

The chase starts between the two as we see Frank become more confident and changing jobs and carrying out more frauds. He leaves the U.S. and goes to Europe and continues he life of fraud, but being young his youth got the best of him. He fell in love and things started to unravel.

Catch Me If You Can is one of the best movies by both Hanks and DiCaprio and if you have not been opportune to see it, I advise you take the time to. The movie is very very amazing.