Catch Me If You Can (2002) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Steven Spielberg

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Baye, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams

Frank Abagnale, Jr was a teenager when he committed enough acts of bank fraud to make him a millionaire and earn him ten years in prison.      How is a teenager able to pass for an adult and fool so many people, including the FBI agent who was on his tail?    Sheer confidence, ability to think very fast, and a natural knack for being fake would be among the main reasons.    In the beginning of his lucrative run as America's most sought-after fraud, Frank merely posed as a substitute teacher in his new school for kicks.   Once he realized he had a talent for that line of work, he graduated to posing as an airline pilot, accumulating thousands of miles of free air travel and printing and cashing his own Pan Am checks.   He was bold, which only added to his ability to avoid capture.    

Catch Me If You Can is a pure entertainment, based on a true story.    It isn't deep and it doesn't get bogged down in any psychological mumbo-jumbo on why Frank chose to make millions this way.    It's simple:  because he could.     There is maybe a hint that he was acting out at first due to his parents' divorce, but soon enough he realized he would never make that much money doing anything honest.     As with many films "based on a true story", many liberties were taken with Abagnale's story, including his relationship with his father, Frank Sr. (Walken).     Frank's father owns a small business, but continually attempts to cheat the IRS, which costs him his business and his marriage.    In reality, Frank Jr. had no contact with his father following the divorce.     In Catch Me If You Can, Frank Jr. loved and looked up to his old man.   Perhaps this played a part in his natural knack for scheming.

On Frank's tail is FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, who specializes in bank fraud and quietly admires Frank's ability despite his overwhelming desire to catch him.   Frank is the best he had ever seen and develops a grudging respect for him.     This manifests itself when Carl visits Frank in prison after capturing him and asks for his help on a check fraud case that has him stumped.    Hanratty chases Frank from coast to coast, and even in Europe.   Frank is only able to stay a step or two ahead, but no further.   Even as Frank falls in love and wants to settle down, he has a stash of cash for emergency getaways.     

DiCaprio is smoothly convincing as Frank Jr.    Frank Jr is so confident and skilled that we forget he is still only a teenager.    At one point, Hanratty has Frank Jr. cornered in a hotel room.   Through sheer cool and quick thinking, Frank Jr. pretends to be a Secret Service agent and escapes.  It's unlikely such a well-timed event happened in real life, but it is fun to watch.

Catch Me If You Can is skillful film making from Steven Spielberg.    It's not a special effects extravaganza or a historical epic, but simply an enjoyable movie with high-class production values.      Years after being caught and released from prison to join the FBI's bank fraud division, Frank Jr.  formed his own security company which netted him Fortune 500 clients and made him a millionaire.      I met Frank Abagnale Jr.  when I worked at a hotel in Arizona around 2003.      He returned a rental car and I recognized the name.     I asked if he was the same person from Catch Me If You Can and he smiled.    He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I was just happy he wasn't paying by check.