CLASSIC MOVIES: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of The Internet Movie Database]:

The true story of Frank Abagnale Jr., who
successfully forged millions of dollars worth
of checks while posing as a Pan Am pilot,
a doctor, and a lawyer.

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REVIEWS:

"Everything about Steven Spielberg's 'Catch Me If You Can' is a joy.
From the terrific retro John Williams musical score, to the fine acting
performances, to the vibrant colors that saturate every scene in the film,
to the clever animated title sequence, right on through to the enormously
fine-tuned 1960s period detail that we see throughout the movie. ....
I love the way Director Spielberg uses his camera to tell the story, such
as utilizing a high overhead shot looking down on a crowded street teeming
with people, one of which is our subject, Mr. Abagnale, who stands out
significantly by his merely donning his newly-acquired bright white Pan Am
pilot's cap. There's another scene where Spielberg chooses to frame his
actor (Tom Hanks) in the upper right corner of the screen, shooting him
while we gaze over the shoulder of another actor in the foreground. And
another grandiose Spielberg-like moment comes in the corridor of a fancy
hotel, where nothing but the turning of a shoe tells the desire of a would-be
femme fatale. .... 'Catch Me If You Can' is a class act all the way."

-- David Von Pein; August 2003

"Supremely entertaining. .... [Leonardo] DiCaprio's portrayal of
this brilliant fraud is, in a word, sensational. .... 'Catch Me' is
the most charming of Mr. Spielberg's mature films, because it is so
relaxed. Instead of trying to conjure fairy-tale magic, wring tears
or insinuate a message, it is happy just to be its delicious,
genially sophisticated self."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; December 25, 2002

"[Frank] Abagnale is played by Leonardo DiCaprio as a young man
who succeeds at his incredible impersonations by the simple device of
never seeming to try very hard. .... DiCaprio...is breezy and charming
here, playing a boy who discovers what he is good at, and does it. There
is a kind of genius flowing in the scene where he turns up for classes at
a new school, walks into the classroom to discover that a substitute teacher
is expected and, without missing a beat, writes his name on the blackboard,
and tells the students to shut up and sit down and tell him what chapter
they're on. .... This is not a major Spielberg film, although it is an
effortlessly watchable one. .... The story is a good story, directly told,
and such meaning as it has comes from the irony that the only person
who completely appreciates Abagnale's accomplishments
is the man trying to arrest him."

-- Roger Ebert; December 25, 2002

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