Rating- * * * * (4/5)
In the past year, my opinion of Steven Spielberg has changed completely. I have always enjoyed his films but in my enthusiastic rebellion against the big-budget, special-effects driven, B-movie revolution that had begun to overtake the film industry in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I lumped Spielberg into the same group as all the other brainless money-moguls like Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, and Randall Wallace. Spielberg may have invented the A-budget B-movie, but he certainly didn’t turn it into the crap machine that it became (for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the A-budget B-movie is a movie that has a very cheesy, gimmicky storyline but is given a huge budget for special effects, stars, and stunts to make it look like a great movie, ex. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, P*#$l Ha#@*r (that film whose name shall not be mentioned), and The Lost World). My opinion of Spielberg didn’t improve any after seeing him mishandle the brilliant concept for A.I. developed by the late, great Stanley Kubrick. His attempt to bring the bizarre and highly conceptual ideas behind A.I. into a mainstream film that would leave the audience with a warm, fuzzy feeling convinced me that Spielberg was among the shallow filmmaking crowd who believed entertainment is all there is to it. But over the summer, I reviewed some of Spielberg’s films, including Close Encounters, Jaws, and the original Jurassic Park. I realized that these films were not quite as shallow as I remembered and that, in fact, Spielberg was a pretty great storyteller. Then, I saw Minority Report. Spielberg’s incredible talent for blending a great story, an interesting concept, and amazing special effects seamlessly into one great movie are illustrated no where better than this film. Except maybe for Schindler’s List, this film truly established Spielberg as the great storyteller of our time. But after all that, I’m here to talk about the latest effort from our greatest storyteller, Catch Me If You Can. This is a relatively simple film with a fun, simple story but Spielberg handles it with such mastery that it keeps us entertained and enthralled for the entire film, a rare feat these days. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the young Frank Abagnaile, a real-life con-artist who cashed millions of dollars in forged checks in the 1950s by impersonating a pilot for Pan-Am, a doctor in Georgia, and a lawyer in Louisiana. Frank is not a bad guy and he’s not cheating anyone out of any money, except for banks and the federal government. He makes his way around by preying on the trust and ignorance of others and he has a considerable knack for anticipating how people will act in certain situations. On the other end of the chase is FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks, a mousy, nerdy little man who devotes almost his entire life to finding this con-artist. He has a very interesting relationship with Frank in that the two understand and somewhat respect each other even though each man’s success depends upon the other’s failure. We are given a fairly in depth glimpse into Frank’s history, when he grew up in a happy family with a wonderful and understanding father (played wonderfully by Christopher Walken) and a charming, French mother who love Frank, and each other, very much. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Frank’s father has some significant financial problems and when he can’t take care of them, Frank’s mom decides that she cannot stay married to him. Rather than choose a parent to live with and deal with the divorce, Frank decides to run away and begins to live on his wits. Eventually, Frank discovers that he is quite good at duping people into believing him and decides to impersonate an airline pilot. He is quite successful at what he does and ends up making quite a profit on the whole matter. The rest of the film follows Frank’s continuous scheming and Carl’s incessant pursuit. Spielberg takes us through the many incredible details of Frank’s life with a very lighthearted and upbeat style and his attention to detail really pays off in this movie when we get to see the late ’50s and early ‘60s in all their glory. This is not a great film, like some of Spielberg’s better material, but it is certainly made by a great filmmaker and Spielberg’s mark is all over it. This is also one of the best collections of acting talent we’ve seen this year, with the newly revamped DiCaprio, Hanks, Christopher Walken at the top of his form, a nice little guest stint by Martin Sheen as a skeptical lawyer, and even a spicy little cameo by up-and-comer Jennifer Garner (you’ll see her next year in Daredevil). Like last year’s Ocean’s Eleven, this movie is really just for fun and not intended to take home any Oscars, but unlike Ocean’s this film has a legitimately interesting story and some extraordinary performances and may not end up empty handed on Oscar night after all. Regardless of any of that mess, this is an extremely entertaining film and one that almost everyone would enjoy and I certainly recommend it for your viewing pleasure.