+4
Catch Me If You Can had a lot to live up to as far as my expectations went, I can remember my older brother calling it one of the greatest movies that he has ever seen, critics adored it, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks have only gotten more appreciation from me over the years. Tom Hanks' performance wasn't anything particularly amazing, however, he was an applicable adversary to Leonardo DiCaprio's character. He wasn't bad, but I never really connected with his character, he felt like a lovable buffoon before transitioning into what was supposedly a worthy combatant. Their feud didn't necessarily captivate me in the same way that Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon did in The Departed, but Leonardo DiCaprio felt extremely comfortable in his role. Christopher Walken does well in the movie, playing Frank Abagnale's father.
There are a lot of movies that I tend to overlook by Leonardo DiCaprio, merely because their covers don't make me feel as though I am in for an amazing movie. The Aviator was an example of this, looking very, very generic, reminiscent of Jake Gyllenhaal's October Sky, but then, when I watched it, I realized that the movie was actually extremely well put together and DiCaprio did extremely well in his role. This movie was a lot like that at first, which probably explains why it has taken me so long to actually take the time to watch the movie. The cover looked like of a comedy than anything else, and while there are a lot of funny moments, the movie offers a whole lot more in-terms of depth.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays a teenage-boy named Frank Abagnale that runs away from his family, encumbered with a cheating mother and shady father, both loving, and he begins to utilize his wits for tax fraud, stealing millions of dollars from the government. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks plays Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent that is desperately trying to catch him. This is, of course, based on a true-story, similar to The Aviator, and while I am certain that there is probably a lot of inaccuracies or modifications done to glamorize the ordeal, a lot of the happenings make for strong entertainment. Leonardo DiCaprio's character is so confident, calm, and quite frankly, he makes it look so easy.
While I believe the movie falls short of other movies including Leonardo DiCaprio like The Departed, Django Unchained, and The Aviator, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had and it can most certainly be seen as another great movie in Leonardo's resume.