Product Description

The true life story of Frank Abagnale Jr., the youngest man ever to be placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5499 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2003-05-06
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 141 minutes

Amazon.com
An enormously entertaining (if somewhat shallow) affair from blockbuster director Steven Spielberg. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Frank Abagnale, Jr., a dazzling young con man who spent four years impersonating an airline pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer--all before he turned 21. All the while he's pursued by a dedicated FBI agent named Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), whose dogged determination stays one step behind Abagnale's spontaneous wits. Both DiCaprio and Hanks turn in enjoyable performances and the movie has a bouncy rhythm that keeps it zipping along. However, it never gets under the surface of Frank's drive to lose himself in other identities, other than a simplistic desire to please his father (Christopher Walken, excellent as always), nor does it explore the complex mechanics of fraud with any depth. By the movie's end, it feels like one of Frank's pilot uniforms--appearance without substance. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker
Leonardo DiCaprio is loose and easy-a movie star again after his grim encounter with "Gangs of New York"-in Steven Spielberg's charming comedy about a teen-age con man. When his businessman/scam-artist father (Christopher Walken) loses his grip, Frank W. Abagnale (DiCaprio), eager to restore the old guy's glory, slips into deception as a way of life, impersonating, serially, an airline pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, kiting checks along the way and leading the F.B.I., in the person of Agent Hanratty (Tom Hanks), on a merry chase. Yet Hanratty, while pursuing Frank with Javert-like relentlessness, becomes fond of the young scoundrel. The movie is really about an amoral boy lucky enough to have two fathers, each with superb qualities. This real-life story (based on Abagnale's autobiography) is set in the sixties, and Spielberg has given it a sleek and carefree look. An expert and touching entertainment. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Immensely Entertaining. Great Performances. -And True Too!
"Catch Me If You Can" is the story of real-life con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr. who, in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when he was between the ages of 16 and 21, wrote $2.5 million dollars in bad checks and became one of the most notorious con men in American history. The film follows Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) from his early high school pranks to his check-printing operation and eventual capture in France five years later. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) doggedly pursues Frank as he successfully impersonates an air line pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, living the life of a playboy and cashing ingeniously forged checks all along the way.

"Catch Me If You Can" was directed by Stephen Spielberg and, along with Minority Report, signifies a revival of Spielberg's directing talent after fifteen years of mediocre-at-best filmmaking. This film is fairly light fare, but it is immensely entertaining, funny, touching, and impeccably cast. Frank Abagnale, Jr. is a perfect fit for Leonardo DiCaprio, and is probably his best role since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". Tom Hanks seems to have abandoned his typically saccharine roles this year -much to his credit- and puts in a wonderful performance as sympathetic geeky G-man Carl Hanratty (along with a terrific showing in "Road to Perdition"). Christopher Walken was the only actor to receive an Oscar nomination for "Catch Me If You Can". His performance as Frank Abagnale, Sr., our protagonist's down-and-out father, deserved the honor. Frank Jr.'s awkward combination of admiration and pity for his father seems to have been a key motivator in his illustrious life of crime, and Christopher Walken really helps us understand that.

The real Frank Abagnale, Jr. is a successful security consultant these days, protecting businesses from white collar crime. He cooperated with and bascially likes the film, but is quick to point out that "Catch Me If You Can" is based on his biography of the same name that was written about 25 years ago. Mr. Abagnale says that some aspects of his experiences were exaggerated in that book and some have been altered for the movie as well. Whatever the inaccuracies, Frank Abagnale, Jr.'s immense intelligence, ambition, and guts are the most striking elements of the film. It's the rarity of finding all of these qualities in such abundance in one person that make Frank's character so fascinating, and make him one of cinema's most lovable antiheroes.

I highly recommend "Catch Me If You Can" for its great performances and its extremely entertaining story of an ingenious con man and his noble pursuer...made all the more interesting because the story is largely true.

Spielberg sends us a message....
and the message is, "Sometimes, I'm gonna do a film where I just try to entertain you". And entertain it did!

Reviewers of the movie are at odds, either giving it high praise, when they recognize that it is just there to entertain the filmgoer, or calling it dreadful, when they expect every Spielberg movie to be a momentous event of special effects and storytelling. "Catch Me If You Can" is based on the life of a con man, who pulled his crimes as a teenager, and then reformed for the rest of a long life. The story engrosses the watcher, and Spielberg gives the film a light touch, a terrific cast, and fits it all into the eerily real culture of the 60's everyday life with costumes (wardrobe is outstanding), period sets, and a general feeling of wonder (Remember "The Wonder Years"?) that was the true 60's feel, devoid of momentous political events and the inevitable strife caused by war.

DiCaprio is featured as an odd duck, an obsessive compulsive trapped in escalating acts designed to make his father feel that his life is successful. He shows some great naivete, especially in the scene criticized by many with Jennifer Garner, and displays the genial and engaging manner that the real Frank must have had to get away with what he did.

Hanks is another believable work obsessive compulsive who chases him down and forms the nucleus of the nonviolent criminal teams that solve financial crimes in this country every day. Bringing Frank to the FBI feels a little unbelievable, but it DID happen, and it was based on Hanratty's understanding and faith in not only the genius, but also the need of Abagnale to outsmart the world. I'm sure it was a huge
financial success for law enforcement in the real world.

Many seem surprised at the fine flair that Christopher Walken displays as Frank's father, but Walken's career is full of moments like these, where he has flashes of a true craftsman, then does an over the top performance in his next role...kind of a roller coaster ride with this fine performer, you never know what to expect.

The audience clapped in the film I saw, enjoyed the music, had a great time...now that's entertainment! Catch Me If You Can blends light comedy with a background edge of why things turn out the way they do when families dissolve. It may be the most entertaining movie (short of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) of 2002; and although it doesn't deserve to win any awards....

sometimes Spielberg should just entertain us! He's earned it.

Sensationalized
Ok, I know it is a movie, but really, do you have to drop all the real facts? Catch Me If You Can is based on the true life story of Frank Abagnale. It does describe certain parts of Frank Abagnale's journey as a medical resident, CEO, lawyer, and airplane co-pilot, but I guess they thought that they needed another story line so they created the FBI character that chases him. Well, in truth, he was not caught by the FBI (he was caught by police overseas) and the relationship and engagement that takes up a significant portion of the move never actually got that far in real life. Even with the baseless story leaps, the movie is well acted and very colorful.

The DVD is packed with extras, even a track of the DVD entitled Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction.