Catch Me If You Can is such a fascinating story that it almost doesn't matter who plays who. After I got past the impressive list of actors, I found myself totally engrossed in this almost unbelievable story of con games, impersonations and trickery. DiCaprio plays the real life character Frank Abagnale, Jr. , a shy but ambitious high school boy. He's not comfortable at school as a new student in New York, so, he decides to suddenly become one of the teachers. It may seem far-fetched…wait, it is far-fetched for this baby-face boy to pull it off, but he does. Attitude…that's what he had and attitude is everything.
Young Frank struggles to find identity within his family but his family is falling apart. Christopher Walken is Frank, Sr. and turns in a poignant performance as the dad whose failings in life have his dauber deeply in the dirt. This proves to be too much for him to bear and this ultimately is what drives him to emulate successful vocations and professions. He feels like if his life is good, surely his parents will stay together to complete his dream. In this vein, it's a very sad movie. But, as I said, his incredible transformations to the different characters, mostly glamorous, makes this movie fun to watch.
Tom Hanks plays Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent hot on Abagnale's trail of white collar crime: Check fraud. He comes close more than once and then realizes Abagnale now considers Hanratty an adversary, not a cop. And getting caught is his ultimate closure on a terribly unfulfilled life. Go see this one, you won't be sorry.
 Catch Me If You Can
 |
