Each week, I will look at a movie that is currently in theaters or available to stream and give some reasons why people should watch it. This isn’t necessarily a film critique, rather, an overview of what I think is enjoyable about the film, and why it’s worth seeing. This week we’ll go back two decades to 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
The following paragraph is going to contain nothing surprising and will be a reiteration of things already known as Catch Me If You Can is a known commodity and well liked movie. DiCaprio’s relatively young age at the time was perfect as he played a stealthy con man who led the FBI on a wild goose chase. The ability to charm is an important factor when becoming this type of criminal, and DiCaprio is disturbingly good at it. Doing the chasing was another legendary actor, Tom Hanks. Hanks has been well respected for nearly four decades, and at the time of this movie he had well established himself as a top actor in Hollywood. The authority is he able to command on the big screen fit perfectly with his role as the FBI agent trying to track down Frank Abagnale Jr. (DiCaprio). What makes this spectacle of a chase that much better is this is based on a true story. There’s usually some Hollywood exaggeration to make things more dramatic, but the meat of the story is true. That’s why the acting is so important, the story is what it is, there can always be some liberties taken, but it’s not an original, creative idea. This movie hit it big because of the perfect combination of the amazing story, and some of the best acting you could possibly have for any movie, let alone the roles that needed to be played. This is prime Hanks and DiCaprio, and that alone is worth the price of admission. If you haven’t seen the movie, catch it when you can.
Catch Catch Me If You Can on Netflix.
