Catch Me If You Can

What’s the Story?

Frank Abagnale, Jr. ( Leonardo DiCaprio) adores his parents. His father (Christopher Walken) relies on using an angle to get what he wants and employs his teen son in his scams. But eventually he gets the family into in serious financial trouble. When Frank is 16, his parents get divorced and he is told to choose which one he will live with. He cannot handle it and he runs away. Like a child, he thinks he can recreate the perfect world he once thought he had. But he has one very un-childlike quality, an astonishing eye for detail. Combined with the charm and panache he learned from his father, the ability to appear innocent to give him apparent credibility and - just as important - youthful fearless (he just doesn't know how outrageous his scams are), he becomes one of the most successful con men in history. Before he is imprisoned in France, he manages to pass himself off as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer. He also manages to pass off bad checks worth over $4 million.

Is It Any Good?

Part period piece, part chase film, part drama, Steven Spielberg's movie about the youngest person ever to make the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List is terrifically entertaining. It is set in the candy-colored ring-a-ding 1960's where jet pilots were glamorous and even bank tellers in big cities had a small-town belief in the honesty of someone cashing a check, especially if he had a charming smile. This is the 1960's of big hair, smooth surfaces, and bikinis, fueled by martini music like Sinatra's "Come Fly with Me."

Every single element of this movie works brilliantly together and the result is as irresistible as its con man hero. The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson (based on Abagnale's book) is excellent, as crafty as its subject and with just the right touch of heart. Tom Hanks, as the FBI agent who chases, admires, and ultimately inspires Frank, makes each moment on screen a small masterpiece. DiCaprio captures us from his first moment as an awkward 13-year-old to his sheer pleasure in his own ability to master the adult world.