Catch Me If You Can is one of those true story movies that achieves a rarity. It gives you a really interesting and intense film while still keeping its feet on the ground and not going overboard or off track with the initial story.

This film is based around the true life of Frank Abagnale Jr. who became known as an expert impostor, who managed to con Pan Am airlines out of millions of dollars by impersonating a pilot, a doctor and a legal prosecutor. In the movie it generally keeps to the core roots of Franks story and the man himself was even involved in the making of the movie.

The film is set out from his teenage days and shows a young man who has a talent of confidence. This confidence allows him to fit into any role he's presented with and at the start of the movie we see him impersonating a teacher, which ultimately gets him into trouble. He's a kid who idolises his father, a man who's in serious trouble with the IRS and is being cheated on by his wife, Franks mother. Frank Jr's parents split and Frank runs away to Manhattan with just $25 in his checking account. Determined to clear his Fathers losses and repair his parents marriage, Frank becomes one of the biggest con artists ever known to the United States. The film then turns into a cat & mouse chase between Frank & FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, but what starts as a felon being chased by a cop turns into a father & son type relationship.

The film itself is just incredible, the settings and the script are just superb and have a certain style and confidence very rarely seen in movies these days. It has real life situations taking place that to some would seem utterly unbelievable, yet the film makers display these situations with such a confidence (Due to them being true situations and all) that it's pulled off without it detracting from the film itself.

There's one scene in particular which I'm thinking about and it's a point in which Carl actually manages to find Frank and get into his Motel room while Frank is still there. At this stage in the film Carl is unaware of what Frank looks like and Frank, with his sheer exuberance manages to convince Carl, with no proof what so ever, that he's the man who's caught Frank and had him arrested moments earlier. Taken in by his confidence, Carl believes the story and allows Frank to leave the room and ultimately escape. Of course to most people this would seem utterly ridiculous but the way it's put together in the film, it works perfectly.

A very good movie that is a masterpiece in my eyes and unfortunately overlooked by many. Buy it or rent it, I promise you wont be disappointed either way.

Fantastic movie. Buy it today. Smart, witty, clever, action, humor, a sex scene or two, drama, Leo dicaprio and Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy).

Catch Me if You Can by Steven Spielberg is about a young man who was a brilliant master of deception. It is based on the real life exploits of Frank Abagnale, Jr. who successfully passed himself off as a teacher, a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer all before he reached his 21st birthday! He did this in the late 1960's.

Frank Abagnale, Jr. used disguise and deception to get away with his antics. He passed off bad checks to finance his expensive life by targeting drone like people. He stole the bulk of the money from corporations.

Masterful performances by both Leonardo Dicaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr. and Tom Hanks as his pursuer make this an enormously entertaining and light hearted movie that tickles the funny bone.

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

Steven Spielberg directed crime caper based on a true story in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays a young master con artist who passes himself off as a doctor, lawyer and pilot among other things whilst jetting around America and the world living off cashed fraudulent cheques to the tune of millions of dollars, whilst Tom Hanks's FBI agent tries to apprehend him. A surprisingly dull effort from Spielberg which dragged for the two hours plus that it ran: I was looking at my watch wondering when it was going to end, frankly. Not Spielberg's best by a long shot: perhaps he doesn't do true life stories as well as fiction? Because he was clearly having an off-day here. Not recommended.

It's a two-disc product. It says in the product details that it is one disc. I opened it up, and there were no discs in it at all. That has never happened before. Whatever the machines are doing, it did not put either of the two discs in it. It was plastic wrapped, but did not have the usual sticker on. So I will have to buy it again.

Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) had an easy life in New York during the 1960's. He was the only child of his parents and his father (Christopher Walkin) made a decently living from owning a store.

All that came crashing down around him when the IRS came calling demanding more money. As things got more and more dire, his mother (Nathalie Baye) filed for divorce. Suddenly forced to choose between his two parents, Frank took off instead with the clothes on his back and a checkbook with a balance of $25.

Even though Frank was only 16 at the time, he was also brilliant. He quickly figured out how to cash checks for more then he had. That led to forging checks, which led to taking jobs as a pilot, a lawyer and a doctor, all without even a high school diploma.

But things weren't all fun and games. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) was on his tale. Can Carl catch Frank?

The movie starts out rather slowly. Watching Frank begin his life of crime is only interesting for a little while, but it takes much longer then it should.

Once Carl really gets into the picture and the two start their cat and mouse games the tension really picks up. And it is hard to know who to root for, Frank to get away or Carl to capture him. The two actors do a great job of making their characters real and sympathetic.

The movie is based on a true story. Since this is Hollywood, that means take with a shaker of salt. But it is still interesting to think of a teen really being able to pull this off. Naturally, with the advent of computer banking and added security, he'd have to work much harder to even think of pulling all this off today.

This movie starts as a slow character study but builds into a chase movie with heart. It's not a movie to rush out and watch, but if you are interested, give it a whirl. Odds are you'll be entertained.

Catch Me If You Can is the film of Dicarpo's 2002 Christmas double feature that I didn't see in the theater. Even though I liked Gangs Of New York more, Leo gives another great as Frank W. Abagnale Jr a teenage con men who is full of heart. Tom Hanks as arch enemy Carl Hanratty also gives a heart felt performance. The film is full of comedy and drama and is for the young and the young at heart.

DiCaprio and Hanks combine with Spielberg to produce an amusing,true story of a young rebel (Leo) outfoxing Hanks' special FBI unit on counterfeiting for years. Leo is at his acting best, following in the footsteps of his "loose" mother and his rip-off specialist father.He uses his keen intellect to assume top quality jobs in the airlines, as a doctor, and finally a lawyer,cashing millions of dollars of bogus checks along his route. The picture frolics along for about an hour until, suddenly, it seemingly goes flat, even boring. And it's Hanks, working with the alacrity of Barnaby Jones and the acumen of Inspector Clousseau that's to blame. No recording devices, 3 agents at the party, no effective police backups, a literal crawl up the stairs at the party, a complete lack of aggressiveness, the ridiculous escape from Miami, all seem to point to a deliberate lengthening of the film. Add a really ludicrous semi-climax where Leo is set free, again garbed in a pilot's uniform, and the film loses all credibility. Summing up, the plot was there for a great movie;instead this reviewer saw a fair/good one.

This film shows what Hollywood is capable of. Based on a true story, it is entertaining, moving and gripping throughout and has some funny moments and pieces of irony. For example, an armed Hanks in the laundromat; the guy in the airport carpark with the Handratty sign; Di Caprio asking for Hanks's ID, to name a few, are precious. Contemporary Hollywood really can still do genuine entertainment, even without resort to anyone being gratuitously shot, stabbed, punched, kicked or spat on. I would give it 5 stars but for the constant attributions to past events and time jumps. I just find flashbacks a bit of a give-away of the plot.

I am not a Tom Hanks fan but I adore Leonardo Dicaprio. He is a wonderful actor and brilliant in everything he does. And this is one of my most favorite roles of his. Its perfect and entertaining. I couldn't believe it was actually based on a factual event. Its amazing to even think about while watching this film. The movie is actually a bit long, however, I barely felt it because there really is no down time or boring parts. It is a great chase like movie. Really captivating.

I saw this movie in the theater and enjoyed it. But, I got a lot more out of it the second and third time I watched it at home--it is definitely worth seeing more that once. There is intrigue and comedy. You sympathize with the "criminal." Get to know the reasons behind his innocent larceny! It is hard to know who to root for: The thief or the cop!
Meeting the real person in the interviews were was really intriguing!

Another must see from director Steven Spielberg. Leonard Di Caprio (in a year in which he first worked with Martin Scorsese also) stars as Frank Abagnale, a teenage con artist.

This is a definite fun movie, light hearted, and well worth a watch. I definitely recommend it if only for the awesome opening credits. One of the best movies from Steven Spielberg, and most likely his second most fun (behind Raiders of the Lost Ark)

The DVD features a number of featurettes and interviews. It's a wonderful Two Disc set.

A definite must see.

There's a lot to like in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN--the handsome production values, the unobtrusive John Williams score, the performances by a first-rate cast (Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Charlie Sheen, Christopher Walken) and the fact that it's based on the amazing story of a young man who fooled authorities with forgeries and impersonations over a long period of time.

Makes me recall the Tony Curtis film, THE GREAT IMPOSTER ('61), which told the same sort of amazing story with a lot more exuberance. Somehow events never seem quite so extraordinary in the way that they unfold in this reenactment of a true story. Only a few times does the urgency of DiCaprio's escape from the man chasing him really involve the audience.

Don't ask me why--but there's not enough punch to the proceedings and perhaps this is where John Williams with his "nice" score fails to take the drama seriously. Instead of accompanying the more gripping moments with dramatic bursts of music, he instead goes for a quieter, sophisticated sound closer to the bland '60s sound of cocktail music. Somehow this deadens the impact or seriousness of the crimes being depicted and gives the whole movie a bland quality that is out of place. I never thought I'd be criticizing a John Williams score for being bland but so be it.

The performances can't be faulted--Tom Hanks is especially good as the F.B.I. man and DiCaprio does a highly competent job as the misguided youth. Christopher Walken makes the father an interesting character.

Nevertheless, it IS an amazing story--this man had to be brilliant to pull off what he did--in an age where counterfeit checks and IDs are scrutinized as carefully as they are most of the time, it seems highly unlikely that such a ruse could happen in the light of today's heightened high security--or is it??

Ever since putting out Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg's been sort of hit-and-miss. From likable outings like Minority Report to Munich to sort-of-okay ones such as A.I and The Terminal. Catch Me If You Can, a film similar in tone to the Terminal is a bit more accessible and it's interesting all the way through. But interesting doesn't mean great through and through and the film suffers from what I call a "perfectly too long script" where the film can't really be cut down but you wish it had been.

The film centers on real-life con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. who successfully impersonated an Airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer and receiving the checks priviledged to such prestigious careers. Of course people aren't too happy and on the case is FBI man Carl Hanratty, an expert on bank fraud. But there's more to Frank than just writing bad checks as he has some family issues that he needs to have taken care of and the desire to keep running.

This is kind of a hard Spielberg film to like because it's more a sum-of-its-parts kind of film than looking at individual achievements. All his films, from E.T to Close Encounters to Jaws and Jurassic Park always had some memorable image or a musical theme or something. In this case, it's more acting that shines through. From Leonardo DiCaprio bringing in a great turn as Frank to the one who should've gotten the Oscar, Christopher Walken. Only real problem is Frank's chaser, Hanratty played by Tom Hanks. He plays it with an awful accent and at times you can't even tell what kind of character he's supposed to be.

Where the film doesn't really fail but just sort of stumbles is in its pace. This is a film where looking back it's hard to tell what could be cut since a lot of it is important to establishing characters and motivations yet it just feels too long, like a movie you want to trim down but you wouldn't even know where to start. But tonally the film feels just right from its almost sugary atmosphere to the chase music. It's nice to see John Williams NOT to something that sounds like Star Wars all the time). It's not even close to being Spielberg's worst (look to 1941 for that) but not really Spielberg's best but it's still a nice little movie.

If you're expecting another classic, look elsewhere. But if you just want something entertaining now and then, can't go wrong here.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, is a movie partly about rehabilitation of
addicts to check counterfeiting, identity theft, and similar acts, so
suceeding in reforming what some may see as a character flaw of
individuals who are compelled to that behavior. Indeed, much like the
majority of day traders on the stock markets), their luch will
eventually catch up with them, in terms of the odds the long term.

A major weakness in this movie, is the dated time frame in which the
activity was perpetrated, coupled with a lack of discernment in the
choice of the soundtrack, (chosing stereotypical, cheesy numbers from
the 60's and 70's). There is also a flawed filming technique, camera
work by the Director, that not everyone will agree with. In fact, ET,
Jurassic Park showed horrifically poor filming and presentation, yet
they made a ton of cash, were crowed pleasers and major attractions.

Another downfall is the script, and its flawed tendency to make
comedy and clownish characterizations of a very serious matters that
affect the financial markets, human lives, entire industries and
markets, which is counterfeiting, impersonation of other people, many
of wheom laugh all the way to the bank.

Aside from those aspects, I won't hold it against the director, to
release a movie that exceeds 2 hours vs. the standard 90 mins,
considering the difficulty in telling the story contained in the
book, encompassing a number of real life, biographical aspects.

It's clear that the cast was exceptional, played by Di Caprio who
brings plenty of world class acting, as does Martin Sheen, Chris
Walken, raising the movie up a notch or two in quality.

Reverting to the filming, there are just too many blurred, unsharp,
poorly selected lighting situations for this aspect to pass
unnoticed, or unannoying, suggesting a TV-like technique by the
technicians. The DVD transfer was not a real wide-screen release that
viewers were expecting, either. Also, the filming angles are much too
predictable, yet the movie does redeem itself in the odd moments
from its comical moments, that will show a split reaction.

The final surprise, is the rhetorical matter of how someone can take
tens of millions, and after 10 years or more, have nothing to show
for, as all has vanished in thin air.

if not for the miscasting of leonardo dicaprio in the lead role this could well have been a near-great movie. unfortunately leo (who i will admit does look better here than at any time since "titanic") gives yet another of his oh so obvious acting jobs: his attempt at a suburban new york accent is as painful as his vocal tricks in "gangs of new york" -- where does this guy get off trying this stuff, as if he were a classically trained brit actor? now to the good: tom hanks offers his most ingratiating performance in years (ever since he started to specialize in being tom hanks) as the sullen fbi agent who tracks down master forger leo; christopher walken is at his wierd best as the fallen idol father; the john williams score grabs you from the opening and never lets go. while the story requires a bigtime suspension of disbelief, it IS fun to imagine someone getting away with some of this stuff (as skewed thru the young mans eyes) rather than the reality of the desperation which compelled him to live his decade on the run.

I've always liked wathing movies and with amazon you've made it great I am very pleased thank you

I avoided this movie for a long time, thinking it was a grim cops-and- robbers crime thing. Well, it is a crime thing and Tom Hanks is the cop (FBI) and Leo DiCaprio is the robber. But it's anything but grim! Speilberg chose to tell this story, which could have been tragic. in a completely light hearted way. The only terrible scene is in the beginning when DiCaprio is languishing in a French prison. From there on, it's all up. The colors are bright, the atmosphere is light. And yet there's a lot of depth to it, as well. It talkes a really good director to pull it off so well.

First of all, the story is amazing! We all know it's true; no one would make something like that up! Then, the cast is all-star! DiCaprio shines as a complex, tortured kid who is, at the same time, having the time of his life! The relationships are touching and so well handled. Christopher Walken is superb as the dad. Tom Hanks plays the 'alternate" father---as serious and humorless as the first one was charming and irresponsible. Hanks, DiCaprio and Walken, directed by Speilberg, in this terrific story---how can you miss?

The DVD I saw had a bonus disk with great extras---including lots of footage of the original Frank Abegnale. After seeing the movie, I really wanted to see the real deal and he is obviously quite the guy!

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is definitely one of the most entertaining and intelligent films I have seen in a long time. This is based on the real life story of the life of Frank Abagnale, Jr. A con man who impersonated an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer, all before the age of 21. He came by it honestly because his father was a businessman and con artist, who helped teach him everything he knew.

Leonardo DiCaprio is boyishly handsome, engaging and diabolical as Frank Abagnale, Jr. Due to an unfortunate turn of events in his life (which I won't elaborate on, to spoil the plot), the young man turns to a life of pulling con job after con job, at just age sixteen. Not only does he manage to make close to $2.5 million, but he finds love, fame and notoreity in the public eye, all the while eluding the advances of Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), an FBI investigator hot on his trail.

This film is intelligent, original and just superb (from the very engaging title credits, down to the intriguing conclusion). You will definitely be entertained.......

I ordered the movie for my father for christmas and when he opened it, the dvd was worped and would not work, so I am going to try and send it back but we live in oklahoma and I live in Tulsa and my father lives in another town. The problem is we have had a big ice storm and we have not been able to get together since christmas and he did not discover the problem until i had returned back to tulsa,so just one of those things but hopefully I can return it thanks for asking Sally Robertson

This is a excellent movies. It hard to believe but most of the events are true. How a kid could pull this off is remarkable. And the movie is great watch.
Rick

,h am ajapanese university student and I watched"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN".
This movie is thrilling and comic.This episode is half an existing genius fraud's life.he was a fraud when he was teenager.But he was gone after by a man of FBI.
I thought the show was human warmth because an exciting of views between two men is very good.
I would recommend this movie because it is very fun and human warmth is very emotional.

Catch Me If You Can is like a good book you can't put down!
This is another excellent Spielberg film. It is the true story of a most fascinating life.
Frank Abagnale, Jr. is a chameleon, ever changing as the need arises.
Leonardo DiCaprio, as Frank, is perfectly cast as a man on the run,
while the always believable Tom Hanks portrays his part as the FBI agent in pursuit of Frank excellently.
Many of the security safeguards we use today have been created by the inventive genius
of a man whose life and survival hinged on deception.
As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction and,
in this movie, that adage is indeed proven to be true.
Do yourself a favor and 'Catch This One If You Can'! ~ Mrs. B.

Based on a true story, this motion picture is a fresh original production. Leo does an awesome job portraying a very elusive character. One of the finest performances I've seen from Dicaprio and Tom Hanks. These two work well together. I'd like to see more. Very good quality production, well written screenplay, excellent casting and very few things I dislike about it. Could have been given a little more spunk in the plot, but not at all a bad film. I highly recommend it.

Spielberg's most recent films have emphasized ethical questions. This movie looks at some of these questions and more:

- Is it ethical or healthy to ask a child to choose one parent as more primary and beloved than another? The boy is asked to "just pick one" of his parents to have primary custody of him. This tears him apart and faced with the choice of choosing only one as primary, he runs.

- When your real parents do not provide you with solutions that make sense, is it okay to choose other father figures who do make sense? When Frank Abagnale, Jr. finally encounters a man who loves him more like a father should, is it okay for Frank to choose to emulate him more than he emulated his own father?

- Why would a man like FBI Agent Carl Hanratty care so much about someone who wasn't even a friend or family member?

- Who should you honor? How should you act? How should you pursue wealth? These are key questions this movie explores.

The cognitive framework of "No slave can serve two masters, for he will either love one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other" is a foundational concept for some people. It is a concept followed to support their religious, patriotic, and military exclusive loyalties. This type of thinking scares me and misleads others. The irony is that slaves don't serve one master. Any society that supports slavery ends up requiring slaves to serve many masters. Slaves are subservient to most any member of the preferred class. Further, slaves get very little discretion as to who they are allowed to love and who they are allowed to hate. Those choices are dictated for them.

The "No slave can serve two masters" is a principle discussed originally in relation to the pursuit of wealth. On its face, it suggests that a person cannot act like a slave in relation to the pursuit of wealth. If they are a slave to God, then they must hate the pursuit of wealth. This makes no sense to me. As if slaves had too many advantages already. Now they're not supposed to even love the pursuit of wealth? Wealth can be defined as a state of being rich; prosperous; affluent. Wealth generally means that you have worked hard to protect your family by storing up resources and making alliances, reducing their susceptibility to hunger and desperate circumstances. The pursuit of wealth is usually a healthy thing for poor people to pursue. We all balance many competing interests. And to pursue one interest does not mean you have to hate all the other interests that may compete with the one interest. That type of thinking destroys relationships, progress, and health.

Adam was supposedly kicked out of Eden because he sought knowledge beyond what "God" told him to consider - he ate from the tree of good and evil, the tree of knowledge. I gotta tell ya - most days, I follow Eve's tempations and try another fruit. I think both Frank Abagnale Jr. and Steven Spielberg do too. Pick a cliche a day to refine away.

When people are no longer treated like slaves, nor expected to act like slaves, things improve. Whenever I hear concepts based on "No slave can serve to masters" thinking patterns, I remember my parents. Unlike Frank Abagnale Jr., I had extraordinary parents. They divorced when I was a toddler. They NEVER asked me to love one of them more than the other. By both of their words and actions, they taught me two principles: A good parent, when asked to love one family member as more primary than another, declines that offer. A good parent communicates equal love to all their children. Maybe a slave can't serve two masters who have different and conflicting priorities, but a beloved child sure can. Children can sometimes find ways to love both, ways that adults have trouble finding. Both in the movie and in life, Frank Abagnale Jr. eventually found ways to love and honor both his parents and the strange and unusual FBI agent Carl Hanratty.

This comedy is the best I have seen in years. Decaprio did a great job and other actors did so as well. The plot of the movie is amazing, plus it is a true story which makes it even funnier.

This movie is about an entertaining, engaging, story being delivered by a great director and great actors. Nothing more, nothing less. If your looking for an epic masterpiece, look somewhere else. But if you're looking for just a fun, entertaining movie, this is the one to get...

one of DiCaprio's best. Tom Hanks is great in it and the fact that this story is based on true events is crazy. a great cat and mouse chase. I've seen it a few times now and every time i can't leave the room. great movie.

Frank Abagnale, Jr. has been raised on images of a family that doesn't really exist--a romantic and lasting love affair between his WWII vet dad and his French mother; his father's booming stationery business; a thieving kind of resourcefulness. He worships no one so much as his own father, although the images Frank JR glimpses through his rose-colored glasses aren't so much reality as they are the landscape his father has created for him to see.

So, when his parents split early on in the movie, after his father's troubles with the IRS finally bring their family finances crashing down, Frank Jr is asked to choose--his mother or his father, and it's an impossible choice (which any child of divorced parents certainly feels in this moving scene.) Frank's choice? He takes off running, hence the title and it's initial confrontation, though Frank's as haunted and hounded by FBI Agent Henratti (sp?), played by Tom Hanks as he is his heartbreaking childhood.

Frank proceeds to run from one end of America to the other, criss-crossing in a trail of bank fraud, check kiting and the like (he's a "paper hanger", in the words of Hanks' character.)
But as the story unfolds, and it's certainly great entertainment to watch DiCaprio's Abagnale foil society, financial instituions and school bullies, it's as much about the elusive things he's running *toward* as the past he's running from. In the end, I found this to be a melancholy-yet-uplifting tale about a young man's search for authenticity, a father, and roots. Loved it, through and through!

This is one of the best Christopher Walkin movies ever. Tom Hanks and Leo DiCrapio are alright in this so-so film. The script is weak and the movies too long. Martin Sheen keeps it real.

An excellent movie about a smart conman who eventually ends up rendering his skills to the FBI.

The movie is not just about this, but a lot of subtle things like the relationships between Abagnale and his dad.

Some of the scences were very well picturized
-The silent mutual giggle which Abagnale(Leonardo) and his dad exchange as they walk out from the School principal's office
-When Tom Hanks enquires with Abagnale's dad if he know where Leonardo is, his dad replies that 'If you had son, you will know that it is your son whom you love more than anything else'

Overall, it is one of the best movies I have seen. Everything in this movie deserves 5 stars.

Catch Me If You Can is the brilliant true story of con artist Frank Abagnale, the man who by his late teens had made a fortune from forging checks across the US and parts of Europe, was finally caught by FBI agent Carl Hanratty, and has been working for the FBI's Check Fraud unit since the late 60's. He also designed the checks that are circulated in the country on a daily basis.

Catch Me is directed by Steven Speilberg (E.T. Extra Terrestrial) and stars Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), and Martin Sheen (Wall Street).

The film follows Frank, played convincingly by DiCaprio, through his younger years when his parents divorce, and his father Frank Sr., played brilliantly by Walken, slides down the social ladder and how this all leads young Frank into a life as a fraudulant and smooth con artist. He becomes a co-pilot with PAN-AM airlines, a doctor in charge of the entire midnight shift, and a lawyer. Frank's mission is to take back all the money that his dad lost from the US government, and its the no-joke FBI agent Hanratty, played by Hanks in one of his best roles, whose hot on his tracks and always one step behind him.

The movie is one of the most entertaining and funniest films I have seen in a while. Speilberg lets his movie flow smoothly and gives his actors enough freedom to let their sense of humor shine through.

Recommended

A-

My mother was always convinced that Leo was a terible actor. Then I showed her this film, and she thinks otherwise.

Having just watched the DVD last night, everything is fresh in my memory... Was I disappointed in this outing by the great director? Not really. Even middle-of-the-road Spielberg is better than most other director's best efforts. Tom Hanks plays geeky FBI Agent and nemesis to Di Capprio's devil-may-care con-kid (not really a con-man, since Dicapprio's character starts doing all these crazy things at the age of seventeen). It is effortless and free as the story uhnfolds, not answering a whole lot of questions that might pop up. Hmmmm. Being that this is "Based On A True Story" does make it a bit more interesting. All in all...a good weeknight sitdown movie. Something to watch after a heart-attack MNF game to take the edge off the day. Nothing extra-extra-special here. Certainly not Speileberg's best effort. But DiCapprio shines and so does Tom Hanks and that makes up for some lackluster script strains. The fact that this guy actually impersonated a pilot, a doctor, and a state prossecutor as well as floated over $4 million in bogus checks in the mid-to-late 60's is very impressive.

Dig it!

Oh, my, what a wonderful movie this is.

This film, a "true story" about an audacious and clever con-artist--his flight from justice and eventual capture--is one of those movies that keep Mr. Spielberg firmly atop the pedestal upon which he so richly deserves to sit. It's simply a lot of fun--a great story, well told--and succeeds on almost every level that film attempts. The characters are multi-dimensional, intriguing and all sympathetic; the pacing is seat-of-the-pants; the direction is artful, but never at the expense of the story; the music another gem from John Williams (and uncharacteristic of his normal brassy fare); the acting is superb (and I hope that given this, The Aviator, and others that people will finally admit the sizable talent of the often unfairly hated DiCaprio); and the plot is a gem.

One aspect that I love is how DiCaprio's character is an awful con-man, reprehensible by every measure, and yet is just so very daring and intelligent that he demands our respect and admiration (and, sometimes, jealousy). Also, in his relationships with his parents (featuring a great turn by the normally out-of-control Christopher Walken), the policeman chasing him, his would-be wife and others, we see the real human being, inside, his dreams, hopes and failures. In the end, we care.

Finally, the movie gets style points for its retro-60's opening sequence and theme, and the subtle points that you may just miss on a first viewing (for instance, DiCaprio tracing handcuffs while talking on the phone to the police). Excellent, excellent movie that you'll watch more than once. Highly recommended.