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December 25, 2002
By Veronica Mixon
Steven Spielberg captures the sunny exuberance
of the 1960s in Catch Me If You Can
and makes it easier for jaded contemporary audiences
to understand that this was indeed a different
time. People were more trusting and a young opportunist
like Frank Abagnale found that he could connive
his way in and out of situations like a slipper
eel. Abagnale - fictional and real - seems a curious
character choice for Spielberg, a man who has
championed good over evil and greed but as his
personal story unfold, you begin to understand
one of the reasons why Spielberg liked the man.
When
his parents announce their divorce, a teenaged
Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) flees his home.
He's really a sensitive guy who adores both his
parents and loves to here the retelling of how
his American GI father met and married his French
mother during the war. However, the IRS is making
Abagnale Sr.'s (played nicely by Christopher Walken)
life miserable and he's slowing losing his business.
And his mother played by the beautiful Natalie
Baye has cast her sights on a new man (James Brolin)
who is more financially stable. Young Frank simply
can't accept the fact that his family has fallen
apart and he leaves.
Unable
because he hasn't finished high school, Frank
remembers a scam that his father has used in business
and begins to trick people out of their money.
When he spots an airline pilot cashing a check
at a downtown hotel, he quickly learns that with
a similar costume and the right attitude people
will easily accommodate him. It seems airline
pilots were like rock stars in the early Sixties
and people both admired and adored them. Frank
begins to live in big hotels off of cash received
from forged checks and eventually begins to travel
to different cities posing as an airline pilot.
Naturally, the FBI begins tochases him. Tom Hanks
plays Agent Carl Hanratty becomes especially determined
to catch him.
If
fact, Frank gains a new father figure in Hanratty
who admires the kid's moxie. He also realizes
the loneliness of Frank's criminal life. Leonardo
DiCaprio, who returns this year with two new films
after the overwhelming hysteria of Titanic
and the disappointment of the underwelming The
Beach, is wonderful as Frank. He's exudes
an opportunist's charm and a boy's hurt especially
in scenes with his defeated father and cheating
mother. The real Abagnale has said repeatedly
that family is very important and although the
fictional Frank never gets to marry his sweetheart
(Amy Adams), you get the feeling that the real
Frank did find his ideal girl. Also, it's not
surprising to learn that Abagnale has worked closely
with the FBI for the past 25 years to catch other
forgers given the governments power over his father.
He was not going to let that scenario repeat itself
in his life.
Spielberg
does capture the humor of Frank's escapades in
Catch Me If You Can as he dares
to pose as a pilot sitting white-knuckled flatten
against the wall in the cockpit and doctor who
is forced to deal with a bloody emergency room
patient. James Bond movies were all the rage and
Frank dons a slick suit and cons a gorgeous call
girl (Jennifer Garner) out of sex and cash to
the audiences' delight. It was a wonderful game
for Frank and the playfulness is everywhere. The
screen sparks with vibrant yellows, oranges and
lime green, retro music and Tom Hanks chases DiCaprio
wearing a conservative black suit, hat and glasses
which highlight his seriousness and the uptight
Fifties which the Sixties will utterly destroy.
Nevertheless, Spielberg makes sure that the real
reason he was attracted to this story does not
escape the audience. The bravado of crime can't
overwhelm the terrible pain a child feels from
the divorce of his parents.
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