27018797
Catch Me If You Can
PG-13
Playing at area theaters
Three reels out of four
Catch Me If You Can is based in the 1960s, just as Vietnam was heating up and social unrest was escalating. But this is no angst-filled diatribe. Rather, the film is about a more innocent time in our history just before the war.
Director Steven Spielberg has perfectly captured that time period and, using masterful pacing and wry humor, has made an entertaining, fun movie.
Catch Me If You Can concerns a certain Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young man from New Rochelle, N.Y. When his parents divorce, he runs away to Manhattan. Although the going is a little rough at first, Frank soon finds he has incredible survival skills. He has the time of his life as he poses as an airline pilot, an emergency-room doctor and, eventually, a lawyer.
Add to this an innate talent to forge checks and Frank is living the good life. Naturally some people want to spoil Frank’s good times, chief of these being FBI special agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks).
We all knew someone in high school who had the ability to get away with murder and I think to this day, most people get a kick out of someone like that, as long as nobody gets hurt. I think that’s part of what makes Catch Me If You Can so much fun. It’s not really a comedy in the classic sense of the word. I guess you could call it more of a caper/chase movie.
But much of it is really funny because Abagnale (at least in the movie) is so smart yet so innocent. This is basically a kid who should be trying to get into college, not supervising an emergency room. The joy is absolutely infectious and Spielberg makes sure we get that.
DiCaprio, who was somewhat miscast in Gangs of New York as a street tough, is completely in his element here. Not only does he have the boyish good looks — without which such exploits would be a stretch — but also a mischievousness deep within. I think he likes his character and that’s important if the movie is to work.
Hanks is great and sometimes a scream as Abagnale’s nemesis. He would have been a great Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace.
Speaking about childhood, Spielberg seems to be having a second childhood as a movie director. He clearly enjoys his work again, but has matured at the same time. For a while, he was dividing his time between making serious and fun films, but neither seemed complete. With Minority Report coming out earlier this year, Spielberg has seemed to find his voice again. This is something that’s good both for him and the movie-going public.
Catch Me If You Can is a whimsical yet never-fluffy roller-coaster ride of a movie that recalls a time when good was good and bad was bad. And checks were easier to counterfeit.
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The Poseidon Adventure
Rated PG
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There are some movies that may have a scene or two on New Year’s Eve, but not many that actually take place on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day. If you’re dying to see a movie that fits the bill, you could do worse than The Poseidon Adventure (1972). It begins on New Year’s Eve as the passengers of the luxury liner Poseidon get ready to ring in the new year. Auld Lang Syne is spoiled when a doozy of a tidal wave capsizes the ship, killing all but 10 of the passengers. The remainder of the movie concerns the survivors’ valiant attempts to, well, survive. Though not exactly a great film, it’s very entertaining and has a killer cast, including the great ham Shelley Winters, who was rewarded for her efforts with an Oscar nomination.
