Rating: 
Summary: This movie was good....
Review: This movie is very interesting. It is not exactly a comedy but it does have a few funny scenes, unless you are just one of those inconsiderate non-open minded people who go in with the attitude that "this has to be really funny or [it is really bad]." Yes this movie does contain a little comedy. But due to the face its based on a true story, you can only do so much to make some parts funny. If the preveiw/trailer interested you I definitely reccomend seeing this.
Rating:
Summary: Catch this movie.
Review: Catch Me If You Can is a wonderful film on a couple of levels. To begin with the obvious, the fact that DiCaprio (Frank) and Hanks (Carl) star in it would be enough to get a lot of people to the theatre. Both do an excellent job in capturing their characters' motives and feelings, developing almost a father-son relationship despite being on opposite sides of the law. Walken is deliciously understated as Frank, Sr.That the film is based on fact adds to the surrealness of the story. How a 16-17 year old could develop the skills needed to pull off his cons is not really addressed in the movie, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. Just knowing that he did actually accomplish what he did was amazing but a little more detail on where he got the skills would have helped. There are some emotional jolts throughout the movie but most of the story is on the more lighthearted side. The loneliness and emptiness felt by Frank despite his success is sad and by the end of the movie I got the feeling that he was happy to have it over with. All-in-all, Catch Me If You Can is a fun, interesting film.
Rating:
Summary: Forgoing "The Great Impostor"
Review: While I will admit up front that I have not yet seen this movie, There is one comment hat I would like to make with regards to its subject matter. With all the reviews, the commentary, and the advertising (it is a Spielberg film, after all), it seems that there has been one facet of this movie's genre left out of it, its predecessor.
I am speaking of a movie which is not a widely known film, but it can be said that at least the premise is not far from it. The film I am referring to is "The Great Impostor", starring Tony Curtis as the title character, and one that for its time showed much of the same premise as this one does.
For those who haven't seen the other movie, Tony Curtis plays Ferdinand Waldo Demarra (also a real life person), who from anearly age begins to develop his art for impersonating other people and professions. He criscrosses half the world, moving from the East Coast of the US to working aboard a Canadian hospital ship off Korea during the conflict. The two parts of that movie which I liked, aside from the ending of course, when Tony is allowed to break the rule about the fourth wall, were Karl Malden's performance as the family priest-turned-confidante to the younger and adult Demarra, and his time in Canada, where Demarra is able to not only appear more human, but actually allow the audience to see that side of him.
Rating:
Summary: Spielberg sends us a message....
Review: and the message is, "Sometimes, I'm gonna do a film where I just try to entertain you". And entertain it did!
Reviewers of the movie are at odds, either giving it high praise, when they recognize that it is just there to entertain the filmgoer, or calling it dreadful, when they expect every Spielberg movie to be a momentous event of special effects and storytelling. "Catch Me If You Can" is based on the life of a con man, who pulled his crimes as a teenager, and then reformed for the rest of a long life. The story engrosses the watcher, and Spielberg gives the film a light touch, a terrific cast, and fits it all into the eerily real culture of the 60's everyday life with costumes (wardrobe is outstanding), period sets, and a general feeling of wonder (Remember "The Wonder Years"?) that was the true 60's feel, devoid of momentous political events and the inevitable strife caused by war.
DiCaprio is featured as an odd duck, an obsessive compulsive trapped in escalating acts designed to make his father feel that his life is successful. He shows some great naivete, especially in the scene criticized by many with Jennifer Garner, and displays the genial and engaging manner that the real Frank must have had to get away with what he did.
Hanks is another believable work obsessive compulsive who chases him down and forms the nucleus of the nonviolent criminal teams that solve financial crimes in this country every day. Bringing Frank to the FBI feels a little unbelievable, but it DID happen, and it was based on Hanratty's understanding and faith in not only the genius, but also the need of Abagnale to outsmart the world. I'm sure it was a huge
financial success for law enforcement in the real world.
Many seem surprised at the fine flair that Christopher Walken displays as Frank's father, but Walken's career is full of moments like these, where he has flashes of a true craftsman, then does an over the top performance in his next role...kind of a roller coaster ride with this fine performer, you never know what to expect.
The audience clapped in the film I saw, enjoyed the music, had a great time...now that's entertainment! Catch Me If You Can blends light comedy with a background edge of why things turn out the way they do when families dissolve. It may be the most entertaining movie (short of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) of 2002; and although it doesn't deserve to win any awards....
sometimes Spielberg should just entertain us! He's earned it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Throwback to an Earlier Time
Review: Steven Spielburg's second 2002 film is a dinosaur. It's an anachronism. It belongs to the time period in which it's set, a more innocent America where Charles Manson had not brought violence to the wealthy and Vietnam was still a winnable (and profitable) war. It's Catch Me If You Can, the story of con man Frank Abagnale, Jr., who may very well be the world's foremost expert on forgery and fraud. If that doesn't sound like a complimentary introduction, fear not; Catch Me a film's film and a throwback to the cinema of yore, when audio and video combined to make an experience rather than an assault on the senses. Imagine a mixture of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and To Catch a Thief. Catch Me has the slow pacing and careful cinematography of Hitchcock at his finest, and Spielburg has forsaken his recent effects-laden shots for straightforward storytelling. Every individual shot is deliberately framed, with a care for detail not usually seen outside of a Lynch film. There are no explosions to distract the eye from character interaction, and the overall effect is that of an effortless and immersive film. Leonardo DiCaprio, in one of his best (and best-developed) roles since Gilbert Grape, plays Frank Abagnale, a teenager growing up outside of New York. His father (played by Christopher Walken) is being investigated by the IRS, and Frank Jr.'s idyllic American life full of apple pie, WWII vets marrying their sweethearts, and large-finned cars is about to come crashing down. When he finds that what he's left with isn't to his liking, Frank embarks on a career of impersonation and fraud. He passes himself off as an airline pilot, a Harvard-educated doctor, an assistant prosecutor, and a recruiter for an airline stewardess program - all before his 19th birthday. When he starts passing bad checks - to the tune of four million dollars - he attracts the attention of straightlaced FBI Agent Tom Hanks, who manages to avoid his Hanks persona in favor of actual acting. Catch Me is a character story, told through a series of events in Abagnale's life. It's funny at times, but the portrait that develops is of a sad, lonely, and almost pathetic child who runs and hides because he doesn't know what else to do. Hanks is like an automaton, relentless in his pursuit, and his grip on Abagnale only grows tighter with each narrow escape. It's not a deep meditation on a philosophical subject, or an artistic look at some overused postmodern cliché. Catch Me aims to entertain, nothing more, and succeeds admirably. Without effects, a blazing soundtrack, and fast-paced action to drive the story, Spielburg ekes the most from Hanks and DiCaprio without resorting to hammy overacting. This, combined with the easygoing plot and fantastic camerawork, lend Catch Me an unusual amount of verisimilitude for a modern film: it's something to lose yourself in, where you no longer think "I'm watching a movie." That is an accomplishment worthy of note. Final Grade: A-
Rating: 
Summary: Cute
Review: This is a blockbuster by all meanings of the word. I think it will do well at the box office. The best part about this movie was the clever and brilliant design of the opening credits. I wanted a smarter movie, but what I got was some good acting in a mediocre movie. It is worth seeing if you are a blockbuster lover, if you REALLY liked Speiderman you will love this.
Anyway, I will not bash the movie because I liked the story, I liked the acting, I just did not like the shallow presentation.
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing Spielberg film
Review: Steven Spielberg's latest film, Catch Me if You Can, is his freshest in years after a stretch of good but flawed movies. This lighthearted comedy/drama is a little different style of film then his usual sci-fi or heavy drama fare, and the change seems to have revitalized him. This true story, which sticks pretty close to fact, follows Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DeCaprio) in the 1960s as he fakes his way as an airline pilot, doctor and a lawyer while cashing thousands of forged checks. The story is hard to believe, despite its basis in fact, but Spielberg brings it very much down to earth and creates some very real characters. It is a very simple film in its nature, compared to most of Spielberg more complicated tastes, as of late. In fact, it hearkens back to his early films which displayed a more youthful vigor and passion. What he has always been best at is telling simple, magical tales about regular people getting caught up in extraordinary events, and that's what Catch Me if You Can is all about. In fact, this film seems to revitalize everyone involved. Not only is Spielberg at his highest form, DeCaprio performs far better then anything he's ever done before. He shows some true talent portraying the genius kid. He manages to upstage the great Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, something I never would have guessed was possible. Spielberg must have seen the potential in him, and helped bring it to the forefront. Also, John Williams score is breathtakingly original. As of late, the great composer has delivered some stale music that sounds much like many other scores he's done (something that happens to everyone after being in the business as long as he), but Williams here shows that he's still got the talent to produce amazing new material. The authentic 60's sound of the music captures the tone of the film perfectly, and the unique opening sequence both looks and sounds like a period production. There are a few moments where the score begins to sound like some of his other work, but Williams seems to keep it under control and these moments are only fleeting. This film is truly as near flawless as they come. Sure it isn't something that will have a profound effect on anyone; it won't change culture or demand viewing upon viewing. It's not that kind of film. It's just a simple, fun, entertaining story that is expertly produced and shows that Spielberg still has what it makes to make the classic movies of his career. Good job Spielberg, I knew you still had it in you.
Rating: 
Summary: No need to catch this movie.
Review: *Catch Me If You Can* is the 2nd Spielbergette this year, the other being the minor *Minority Report*. This one, equally minor, is ABOUT a minor. "Inspired" by a true story (though many incidents are clearly exaggerated), it's about a teenage conman named Frank Abagnale, Jr., who during the Sixties posed as a Pan-Am pilot, a doctor in Atlanta, and a assistant prosecutor for the New Orleans D.A., all the while masterfully forging checks to the tune of about 3 million dollars and change. Why did he do it? OK, this is a Spielberg movie (no matter how "minor"), so you can bet your bottom forged-check that it has something to do with the kid not getting enough love from his mother at home. I thought we went through all of this with Spielberg a couple of years ago with *A.I.* I guess Spielberg wasn't finished, yet. *Catch* is a thematic sequel to *A.I.*, once again showing us the consequences of being stuck with ineffectual and/or uncaring parents. Christopher Walken's father is the "enabler", but that seems like a problem that could be overcome. The root cause is of course the mother, who pretty callously abandons the family once Walken finds himself on hard times, e.g., hounded by the IRS, losing his business, and so on. In a rather heavy-handed scene, we witness DiCaprio's Frank Jr. come home from school one day to find his mother emerging from the bedroom with the president of the local Rotarian Club to which Walken belongs. The moralistic lesson is numbingly clear: the kid's gonna screw up now, and it's all because Mommy wasn't a good housewife. Perhaps Spielberg has a point, and perhaps the events depicted in this scene are substantially true, but does spelling it out for us help the movie's cause? One can fairly assume that anybody who spends 5 years impersonating other people and forging checks has had a messed-up home life. Who cares? Spielberg apparently does, and his movie, which should be much funnier than it turns out to be, grinds to a halt whenever we have to endure DiCaprio trying to "reach out" to his parents. Which is not to take anything way from Christopher Walken's marvelous performance, here. We tend to forget what a great actor he can be, when given the proper chance to display his talent. But the movie probably would've been better, or at least funnier, if his role was more subsidiary. And so, yes: once again, we have another little boy, this time Leonardo DiCaprio instead of Haley Joel Osment, on a quest for parental authority and love. On second thoughts, perhaps this SHOULD have been a serious movie. Playing it seriously, and generating suspense from the kid's constant dodging of the FBI, might have justified the heavier themes, making for an intense cinematic experience. But then, Spielberg would've had to scrap the "flashback" structure of the movie (we're told right from the beginning that DiCaprio will get caught). For that matter, a serious take on this story would've required, well, a serious artist to execute it.
Rating:
Summary: An essential part of the Spielberg canon.
Review: It's easy to see "Catch Me if You Can" as Spielberg Lite. Certainly it's ridiculous to compare it with such grave, portentous films as "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," and it doesn't call for a fraction of the technical wizardry of "E.T." or the Indiana Jones flicks. Nevertheless, in its sprightly elegance and moments of unexpected poignancy, "Catch Me if You Can" is as fine a movie as Spielberg has ever made. The themes of home and belonging are crucial to Spielberg--"E.T. phone home" could be the epigraph to his entire career. Beneath the cat-and-mouse game played by teenage con man Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) and FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) is an intense longing on the part of both men for human connection, which they find unexpectedly in each other. Setting the action on successive Christmases was a master stroke, casting in bas relief the essential loneliness of both men. "Catch Me if You Can" would make a great double bill with Spielberg's first feature, "The Sugarland Express," another film about an epic police chase and the need for home. Of course you probably won't think about any of this while watching the movie; you'll be too busy laughing at DiCaprio's chutzpah and Machiavellian cleverness, and at Hanks' grumpy, Sad Sack attempts to trap him. The two leads, of course, are wonderful--DiCaprio in particular plays his role the way Yo-Yo Ma plays his cello--but the standout is Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale Sr., shedding his usual creepy persona in a moving portrayal of a man whose essential optimism is slowly ground into the dirt. Frankly, the film could stand to lose about 15 minutes at the end, but it's built up so much good will up to that point that most audiences won't mind. My guess is that, in retrospectives 50 years from now, "Catch Me if You Can" will be considered among Spielberg's finest.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Two Hours
Review: I am not and have never been a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but I must admit that he did a good job conveying the inner workings of the mind of Frank Abignale, who was started on the path to being "The Great Pretender" by a football-playing jerk as he went from his exclusive Prep school to a public school. He very successfully posed as the substitute French teacher and, from all accounts, did a very good job at it until they caught him. When his family broke up, he was on his own and living by his wits. He did a great job of it, too, including passing the Louisiana State Bar Exam, especially considering his youth, which makes me assume his IQ was extremely high. Tom Hanks is the Javert (or Lt. Gerard) to DiCaprio's Jean Valjean (or Richard Kimble), obsessed with capturing this fraud artist. I thought he took it too seriously and, to be honest, I did not like him for about 3/4 of the movie. Too many of the attempts to capture Abignale were pure overkill. He had never been at all violent nor had physically harmed anyone, yet on several occasions hordes of armed men attempted (and failed) to capture him. When he was finally incarcerated, no one took into account the total lack of violence that surrounded his career. Of the supporting players, Christopher Walken was sympathetic, even pathetic, as Frank's father who cannot face reality and is the primary cause of Frank's life of crime. I did not find Martin Sheen at all believable as Frank's fiancee's father. My husband thought Frank's mother was a witch, but I found some sympathy for a woman married to a loser who refused to try to help himself so she made a new happier life, although I can't forgive her infidelity to her husband while they were still married. This film is much more reminiscent of the television show The Pretender than of Les Miserables or The Fugitive. Go with the right attitude, not expecting a Steven Spielberg masterpiece, and you'll enjoy yourself. Expect too much, and you'll be disappointed!
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