‘Catch Me if You Can’ not a runaway hit

Justin George
The Rebel Yell (UNLV)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale, the film begins just before his life of crime begins. Young Frank, shattered by his parents sudden split, catches the next train out of town. Abagnale finds himself on the street without much money or many options. After witnessing the financial and relationship success of airplane pilots, Abagnale quickly finds the nearest uniform shop and suits up, using the slick talk his father has taught him.

It is through Pan Am Airlines that Abagnale cashes his first fraudulent check which ignites a compulsion that lands him on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, thus involving FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks).

Eventually, Abagnale meets Brenda Strong (Amy Adams, “Drop Dead Gorgeous”), a nurse at a local hospital. In an attempt to impress her, he tells her that he is a doctor, and a few days later he applies to the medical center with an impressive ‘resume’ and forged Harvard degree.

With nearly 4 million stolen dollars in the bank and a new wife, Abagnale finds himself trapped when Hanratty crashes his wedding and follows closely on his trail all the way to France where he is finally caught with his own tool — deception.

It is in prison that Hanratty discovers Abagnale has an unbelievable talent for identifying fraudulent checks from authentic ones. Thus, Hanratty offers him employment with the FBI as a check fraud investigator. Thus, Abagnale accepts, and although attempts to escape once, finds himself unmotivated to run, after all, no one is chasing him.

The movie is carried by DiCaprio and Hanks who brilliantly capture the inner struggles and motivations of the characters, which is ironic considering neither were first choices for the roles. Not only were the accents consistent, they were subtly woven into the dialogue and unemphasized. DiCaprio captures the intelligent suave and boyish essence of Abagnale, while Hanks presents a slightly awkward FBI investigator. Together these characters play ingeniously off one another to create some scenes that are not only very touching, but intense and comical.

The major downfall of the film, however, is the sloppy editing. Not only does it pose several continuity problems — primarily with the placement of actors’ hands and feet from one cut to the next — but the story drags on for about 20 minutes longer than it needs to. After a false ending, the movie fades back up to explain how Abagnale began working for the FBI, yet still poses as an airline pilot one more time before returning to work just in time to solve one more case — a sequence that could have been summed up with a two-minute montage set to the quirky jazz music woven in the film.

Catch Me If You Can presents interesting insight into the life of a very daring teenager. That’s all. Without any underlying lessons, symbolism or commentary, the film is simply entertaining and proves that sometimes less is better. Avid Spielberg fans will be disappointed, because unlike other Spielberg classics, this film doesn’t give you the runaround.

Rating: 3/5 stars