Catch Me If You Can

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Frank John Hughes, Brian Howe

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

RS: 2of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 4of 4 Stars

2002 Biopic

Here's a minority report on a hit movie, bolstered by my seeing it again on this two-disc DVD, with an entire disc devoted to Steven Spielberg and the actors telling us how pleased they are with themselves. Catch is too harmless to hate, and the 1960s period design is a treat. But it might have been instructive to learn about the facts that got tweaked in this true story of teen con man Frank Abagnale Jr., breezily played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is ultimately nailed by an FBI agent (Tom Hanks). It might have cut deeper to hear Spielberg, a child of divorce, talk about the divorce of Frank's parents in the film -- the event that preceded the boy kiting checks and passing himself off as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. It might have helped if the film had more than gloss to fuel it. Only Christopher Walken, deservedly Oscar nominated as Frank's father, provides a heartbeat. The rest is two hours and twenty minutes of star-packed, power-directed froth.

PETER TRAVERS
(April 22, 2003)