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I think it's safe to say that 'Catch me if you can' is not the typical sort of movie I watch. If it's not a girly chick flick, comedy or kids film, I'm usually not interested, but after being assured that this film contained no violence or gore, I agreed on watching the DVD!
~The Plot~
It's the mid sixties and Frank Abagnale Jnr is barely sixteen years old when his life is turned upside down. He and his parents have recently been forced to move from their luxury house to a cramped apartment after his father failed to pay his taxes, and as if that wasn't bad enough, he then he walks in on his mother in bed with another man. Frank is devastated, but shortly afterwards, he returns home, and an even bigger bombshell is dropped on him - his parents are getting divorced. A lawyer talks to Frank, and tells him he must choose which of his parents he wants to live with. All of this is too much for the young Frank, and he runs away from home.
Frank doesn't have any money with him, and for the first
few weeks he is away from home, relies on writing cheques. He knows that sooner or later these cheques are going to start bouncing, and the police will start looking for him, so he moves out of the area. Looking for a new plan, Frank is walking down the street when he sees a pilot getting out of a car surrounded by pretty air hostesses. Frank realises that this could be an opportunity to make a quick buck and get the attention of lots of pretty women too. Despite only being sixteen, Frank looks a lot older than his years, so he knows he can easily get away with passing himself off as a pilot. He researches airline, PanAm and manages to get himself a uniform. Frank is able to travel on flights for free (meaning he can easily move around the country) and also cash in wage cheques.
Hot on Frank's tail is FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). Every time Carl gets near to catching Frank, he manages to slip the net. Once Carl actually manages to track Frank, but the quick thinking Frank passes himself off as an undercover agent, and manages to escape, much to the frustration and embarrasment of Carl.
Will Frank Ever get caught? And now he knows the FBI are on to his pilot scam, what will he do? You'll have to watch to find out, otherwise I will be getting comments complaining I've given too much away!!
~What I thought~
As I said, this really isn't my sort of movie, I'm more into chick flicks, so I wasn't really sure if I'd like this or not, but I found myself really getting into it, and I thought it was really good. It was quite surprising to find that this was based on a true story, but I guess back then people were a lot more trusting of each other. It says on the back of my DVD that the running time was 2 hours 15 minutes, but to be honest it did seem like a lot longer than that.
I thought the film was really interesting, and although the opening scene tells us that Frank has eventually been caught, I think the film is still intriguing enough to make you wonder how it happened, especially as Frank seems to get more blatant by the minute, but still evades capture.
I think the fact that Frank got away with his scams for so long, may not be all that believeable had it not been based on fact. From watching the DVD extra of the real Frank Abagnale, you will realise that the film is not entirely accurate to the story, there is a lot more to the real story than we see in the film, but I guess we have to remember that they are condensing several years into just over two hours, so I guess some stuff just had to be cut.
Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic as Frank, and like Frank has the looks to pass himself off as either sixteen or thirty. Tom Hanks also gives a good performance as the frustrated Carl Hanratty. Another great character, who I haven't really mentioned as she comes into the story quite far through is Brenda, played by Amy Adams, who is Frank's girlfriend for a short time.
~DVD Extras~
*Catch me if you can: Behind the camera - behind the scenes footage
*Catch me if you can: The casting of the film - As the title suggests, this features the cast and directors on how they chose the actors for this film
*The FBI perspective- This features an ex-FBI agent who gave advice on the set to get the authentic look of the sets etc...
*Photo Gallery - Still pictures from the film
* Frank Abangale: Between Reality and Fiction - This features an interview with the real Frank Abagnale Jnr, and I found this quite interesting.
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A lot less momentous in subject matter than most recent Steven Spielberg films,Catch Me If ... more
You Canis the "inspired by a true story" tale of Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo di Caprio), a mature-looking teenager who spent the 1960s as an odd type of conman: ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
A lot less momentous in subject matter than most recent Steven Spielberg films,Catch Me If ... more
You Canis the "inspired by a true story" tale of Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo di Caprio), a mature-looking teenager who spent the 1960s as an odd type of conman: ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Inspired by the extraordinary true story of a brilliant young master of deception and the ... more
FBI agent hot on his trail, Catch Me If you can stars Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio and two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks in one of the year's most acclai...
Advantages: Hanks, Di Caprio, Walken... interesting plot for the most part, the end sequence is superb Disadvantages: Plot inconsistencies, downright stupid parts occasionally
Advantages: Acting, Script, Story Disadvantages: Not to everyones taste
iamasadlittleboy 24.02.2009 (24.02.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Catch Me If You Can (DVD)
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Apr 6th, 2008
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