Rating: 
Summary: Fun cinematic enjoyment.
Review: Based on the 1980 memoir by Frank Abagnale, this film follows most of the life of one of the most notorious impostors of all time. As Abagnale (played by the surprisingly amiable Leonardo DiCaprio) assumes the identities of various professionals such as an airline pilot, a lawyer, and a pediatrician, he's pursued by FBI detective Carl Hanratty (played by Tom Hanks and his ludicrously phony Boston accent). Eventually, Abagnale is caught and, with the help of Hanratty, he sees the light and puts his gift of deceit to good use by helping the FBI crack future cases of con-artistry.Performances are adequate, at the least. DiCaprio consistently juggles between innocence and trickery, and he is both believable in the beginning as a 16-year-old and in the end as his character endures true adulthood. Most definitely his best performance since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" Two-time Oscar-winner Hanks definitely could have done better, considering his credentials as well as his past performances. It was by no shade of the imagination bad, though, and at times one almost forgets his absurd attempt at a dialect. Christopher Walken, though, probably delivers the best performance as Abagnale's emotionally struggling father, despite his limited screen-time. "Catch Me If You Can" captures the candy-colored fantasy that was the '60s, but it's not free of at least some appropriately bleak moments. The film is surprisingly minimalistic with its cliches even while setting forth its good-hearted message, and director Spielberg makes the two-and-a-half hour flick breeze by like a nice, lighthearted dream.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie is awesome
Review: Catch Me If You Can is a really exciting, entertaining movie. The title suggests what the movie is about, and it reflects the movie's content adeptly. This movie is about a chase between the FBI and a brilliant paperhanger, or someone who writes phony checks. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the main character in this movie, who's name is Frank Abignale, J.R. He gets into a tight situation when he starts the movie because he is forced to choose between staying with his mom or dad after they file for a divorce. He is emotionally abused by this and decides to run away. He then engages in an awesome con artist mission, posing as different professions to survive. He pretends he's a lawyer, a doctor, and even a pilot. He accumulates millions of dollars and is being chased by the FBI, especially an agent named Hanratty. Hanratty is played by Tom Hanks, who does an excellent job as a serious FBI agent who gets fooled by Frank. Basically, this movie is very entertaining. In an age where most new movies are loaded with lots of special effects and unrealistic fight scenes, here's a movie that is realistic. This movie was based on a real person, who really did all these con scams. This movie has a great storyline, and even though it's 2 hours and 20 minutes long it's very engaging. The movie takes place in the 70s, and the movie team did an excellent job of recreating the airports and all the details of the 70s, from the music (Frank Sinatra's and Judy Garland) to the outfits (the women's clothes and hairdo's). It's a dramatic movie also, so it's got lots of scenes with interesting conversations. The music is really good, and there's a catchy score that accompany's the plot. And the cast in this film is awesome, and the characters are all unique and fit well in their roles-from Tom Hanks as Hanratty to Sheen as Brenda's (Frank's wife) father-I also enjoyed all the bonus features. The bottom line is: this is an intelligent and fun movie. If you haven't seen this movie, then go and catch it!
Rating:
Summary: Just humorous is what it is
Review: When I thought I had finally given up on Spielberg, he comes out with this great movie. Catch Me If You Can is the story about a high school kid, Leonardo DiCaprio, who ran away from his disentigrating home life just to make his own life by 'acting', conning, or check bouncing his way through it. Of course, with his check bouncing the FBI gets involved and one of their best, Tom Hanks character, has to find Leo. Now this movie is not all about the chase, because a lot of it is about the kid's love of his family, and especially his dad, played by Christopher Walken. I feel that all three of them were amazing in their roles, although for Leonardo most people wouldn't suspect he could be, he still was. This is a great movie, emotional at times, funny at others, and, since it's based on a true story, it is that much better.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected, but still a solid film
Review: The trailers and the graphics used to promote "Catch Me If You Can" make this movie seem like a light-hearted, cartoonish chase movie, but it's much more serious than that. Director Spielberg delves into the psychology of a real-life con artist and impersonator, teenager Frank Abagnole Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who runs away from a broken home and must rely on his wits, albeit illegally, to keep himself afloat. As Frank's cons get more and more bold and skilled, the FBI agent on his tail, Hanratty (Tom Hanks), scrambles to outwit him. The two form a unique relationship of the hunter and the chased, with Frank toying with Hanratty in scene after scene. What Frank doesn't expect is to find the love of his life and a close-knit family so unlike his own that he wants to remain in their midst. The best performances are the smaller supporting roles: Christopher Walken as Frank Sr. and Martin Sheen as Frank Jr.'s father-in-law. Di Caprio does a solid job with his part as a baby-faced, sweet-talking impersonator, but he rarely lets the complicated emotions surface. Likewise, Tom Hanks is good as the agent obsessed with capturing Frank, but he doesn't add any magic to the role. The soundtrack, with its cartoonish chase theme, helps lighten the film. "Catch Me If You Can" is a cross between "The Fugitive" and "Matchstick Men." Frank's scams are often comically clever, but there is a dark underside to his story. Its the darkness that creates the bond between Frank and the audience, as it's difficult not to feel for a young man who feels unloved and powerless. As Frank gains confidence, he blossoms - and the audience roots for his happiness, even as we know it cannot last.
Rating:
Summary: Catch This If You Can...
Review: After two science-fiction films (A.I and Minority Report) which where not exempt from reproaches but also very attractive, Steven Spielberg stays into the realm of entertainment. But, the reproaches that could be made to his precedent movies, the extravagance and the Hollywood tendency from these projects, are no longer there. With `Catch me if you can', we can see another facet of Steven Spielberg. He tends to be just like a young director whose exploring new approaches, but with a lot of experience: the cast is perfect, the cinematographer is very good and the well trained compositor (John Williams) has the intelligence of producing new themes. Where Spielberg hit the point is in his total mastering of the Abagnale / Hanratty pursuit which, instead of being made in an epileptic manner, works more on the psychological level of the relationship. This pursuit shows the research of a missing father by a missed child who has no other way to prove his existence than to play with the law. Di Caprio shows, once again, his abilities to act the different facets of the tormented teenager, even if for an actor who is almost in his thirties it's maybe the time to change. Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks, he has nothing to prove. Intelligent, slick and quick witted, 'Catch Me...' is fun and entertaining and tells the story of a young man ingeniously tricking people, leaving you sympathising with him to the very end.
Rating: 
Summary: Read the book? You'll hate the movie!
Review: I read the book "Catch Me If You Can" by Frank Abagnale at least 20 years ago and found it one of the most entertaining books I've ever read, all about the fascinating exploits of a teenage con man who managed to pass himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor, an attorney, while managing to steal millions of dollars by forging checks. So when I heard that no less than Stephen Spielberg was going to make a movie out of it, I was really looking forward to seeing it. Big disappointment. First, there is the problem with the miscasting of the main character. In his book, Frank Abagnale specifically states that one of the reason that people were willing to accept a teenager as an authority figure like a pilot or an attorney was being he was unusually large and tall for his age. This is not a description of Leonardo DiCaprio, a little pixie, who must be at least in his late 20s now, but could still pass for a high school freshman. If Leo tried to make somebody think he was any kind of a professional person, the only logical response would from them be to say, "Aren't you going to say 'Trick of Treat?'" Second, this book cried out to be filmed as a gay romp, showing us the great life Frank gained with his lies and stolen money, until that point when the forces of the law inevitably caught up with him and he was severely punished. In the book, Frank never indicates that he felt at all ambivalent about what he was doing until he was arrested. Not so in the movie, where we are presented with a portrayal of Frank as a tortured soul bearing the great psychological burden of having parents who got divorced (along with half the other kids in the US) which drove him to commit these crimes. (By the way, the book never portrayed his father as a con man either, so the like father, like son dynamic depicted on screen is another complete fabrication.) Why does someone lie and steal? Duh! To get the nice things in life without having to work for them, idiot. In short, this movie is a massive missfire. Too bad, it could have been something special. Nice opening titles, though. Very clever. Just parodied on a SIMPSONS episode, by the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Had so much potential!
Review: With Steven Speilberg directing and John Williams doing the music and Tom Hanks starring, I thought I couldn't go wrong with this movie. Unfortunately I was very dissapointed. If you're looking for one of those thrilling chase movies like "The Fugitive" or "Enemy of The State" this isn't the one for you. I thought it would be an old fashioned version. Don't get me wrong, there are good chase sequences but unfortunately the film spends most of the time focusing on the personal issues of Frank (DiCaprio). I ended up becoming tired of the fact that Frank was attempting to reclaim his parent's marriage by imitating his father (a con-man) and buying enough hoping they would get back together. Christopher Walken is great as Frank's father and there also is a cameo by Martin Sheen who is GREAT as the father of his girlfriend. It was fun to see the different identities Frank came up with (a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, etc).The music was of course great and Tom Hanks was of course completly believable as usual. Unfortunately, "Catch Me If You Can" doesn't live up to the hype. With the all-star cast and crew I thought it would be great. Not reccomended. D+
Rating:
Summary: Leonardo is a star!
Review: The storyline itself is unusual, but given that its a true story, it was just waiting for some Hollywood director to spot it as a good storyline and casting Leonardo as the lead was a good choice. I've never been a big fan of him, especially since he's made recent movies which I found cheesy like soppy dramas (Titanic, Romeo and Juliet...) but I was very impressed with his performance in Who's Eating Gilbert Grape and in this movie, his acting talents impressed me again. He is very compelling as Frank Abignale Jr, and Tom Hanks makes a good appearance (but not very memorable) as a secret agent who tracks down Leonardo eventually and has him arrested. Its quite a long movie IMO, but its rather unpredictable and really enjoyable to watch. Better than a lot of the rubbish Hollywood produces these days...
Rating:
Summary: I really liked this film
Review: This movie is based on a true story about a natural born con-man. The story becomes downright comical. For parents who desire to know beforehand what objectionable languange there may be, there is one "F-bomb" and some very brief adult content. The producer really could have left all objectionable non-family material out of this movie and it would still stand on it own credits--at least a 4-star movie.
Rating:
Summary: Very good film
Review: This is one of those great movies that's also dark and a bit depressing.
You don't need me to go into another detailed account of what this flick was about, so I won't. See the movie, it's about a kid with a screwed up dad that figures out how to make it in life, only he the choice he makes leads to a life of crime and running.
In the end there is some redemption, so the movie besides having a great cast and an interesting story to does have a message there too.
I don't know if this is one to own, how many times can it be entertaining to watch I don't know, but it's definately worth seeing once.
|
