Catch Me If You Can Review

We know Steven Spielberg loves to pay attention to every detail of his film, but what in the Lord's name is the matter with the opening credit rolls of Catch Me If You Can? Shucks man, that has to be the fussiest opening sequence ever. Don't take my word for it, it's perfectly creative - but also so fussy! Anyway, if it's any consolation, it is also one of the most gripping films that we've seen in a really long time.

It's an unusually seemingly happy family that Frank Abganale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) inhabits. Till the shit hits the fan and his parents file for divorce. 16-year-old Frank, not wanting to make the desperate choice of choosing between which parent he'd have to live with, sprints away from home.

Out of moolah, moping and morose, Frank does what comes naturally to him... he begins to forge cheques. And as the film progresses, this teen wonder manages to con, hoodwink, filkflam, grin and sleep his way through some of the most ingenious cons pulled off in history, and manages to stash away more than 4 cool million dollars.

Hot on his pinky is Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). Easily one of the bigger cases in his lifetime, he sniffs down and begins to track Frankie's trail. Phantasgomoric at most times, he almost pins him down only to find a whiff of smoke where the con-boy once was. And the film moves along, breezing at an easy pace as Tom Hanks manage to corner Frank only to keep losing him.

Catch Me... is one of the coolest period flicks in a really long time. It's great fun looking at stuff from a different era and then snickering that this is the sort of 'period' your folks inhabited once-upon-a-stupid-time. There isn't really much to nit-pick about this film. Everything seems to blend in so seamlessly.

Leo DiCaprio moves away from his over the edge Titanic type tripe and is perfectly cast as the Boy Forge Wonder. Easily striking the right balance between cocky and disarmingly naïve, he plays along as the coolest con man this side of Cincinnati. Tom Hanks, of course, is Tom Hanks is of course Tom Hanks... So!! Christopher Walken as Frank Sr. is superbly cast, and pulls off his role with aplomb.

The film scores on several points... for the discerning viewer, plenty of subtle undercurrents of emotion, some loneliness, some pure confusion, and the rest of the jingbang. Technically sound too, the flick has something for every music buff with a fabulous background score - any takers for Sinatra would absolutely love it! The movie boasts of a sound script, some tight production and flawless execution, though it might be a tad slow for some tastes.