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    Catch Me If You Can

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    "Catch Me If You Can" is a story that's so crazy it has to be true. Even if it were complete fiction it would be terrific to follow.

    It just sort of happened by accident. Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) didn’t mean to pose as a substitute teacher for his French class, but it worked. As he realizes that conning others and impersonating professionals is relatively easy if you know how, the young man’s scams become increasingly elaborate. As he starts tripping over his own lies, he eventually becomes the “white whale” of FBI bank fraud agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks.)

    Leonardo Dicaprio is terrific as Frank Abagnale. He’s always been good, but it’s worth repeating as he convincingly plays the real-life character from a teenager to well into his twenties. Going from such a short range might not seem impressive, but think about it. When you’re going from say… someone in their thirties to an old man, what do you do? Slap on some prosthetics and makeup, right? That’s easy as long as you have the budget. But the subtle changes in the tone of voice, posture and mannerisms that happen in that period between being a child and adult, that’s something else. Then you’ve got the evolution of the person. DiCaprio is completely convincing as a young man who starts off completely lost and at first wandering the world aimlessly but quickly becomes an expert con artist. Tom Hanks is also fantastic as Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent that is hell-bent on capturing Frank. He seems like a simple character at first, happily doing a job that most of his peers don't respect and acting like such a straight arrow that you don't think he has much personality. As the film progresses you get to know him and genuinely like the guy. That means you have two people to cheer for and each of them takes the role of protagonist and antagonist depending on the scene. It's always keeping you on your toes trying to figure out who is going to get the upper hand and how they're going to do it, but also whom you want to get away with what.

    Christopher Walken also has a memorable role in the film as Frank's father (Frank Abagnale Sr.) and he does an excellent job adding humanity to the film. There are the father-son moments of bonding that make Frank less of a larger-than-life super criminal. When it comes to the cons, the word "unbelievable" comes to mind, but director Steven Spielberg, armed with a great screenplay by Jeff Nathanson makes every trick convincing. You believe that what you see on the screen happened because you can tell that the people that did these actions thought on their feet and operated quickly. There are many moments that will make you rub your eyes in disbelief, wondering if you missed something, or how come you didn’t think of pulling off these deceptions. None of us could, so you admire the guy despite his dishonest ways. Anyone who has the guts to attempt to pass off as a pilot, purely to get free flights and pay checks out of it earns your admiration (even though you know what he's doing is wrong.)

    "Catch Me if you Can" works as a great period piece, a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse, a race through a maze with some great twists and a film about unlikely and profound relationships. It puts you at odds knowing that this is a true story. Do you want to do the research and find out what actually happened, or do you want to accept this movie as fact simply so your favourite scene won’t turn out to be the complete truth. I said earlier that "Catch Me If You Can" is a story that's so crazy it has to be true. I’d like to revise my statement. It’s a movie that’s so good it has to be true. (On Dvd, May 10, 2013)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  28.4.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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