Catch Me If You Can (2002)

My favorite scene in this film features high schooler Frank (DiCaprio) who takes advantage of a fellow bully by pretending to be the substitute French teacher at his very own school. It's his first day so no one knows any better. He forces the dumb jock bully, who pushed him in the hallway, to read in front of the class. It's a funny moment. That is until the actual substitute shows up and is also fooled by this gig. She's an older lady who traveled across the city to make a small check and now she's leaving empty handed. Frank and his gig are good, but someone else has to pay the cost. Just like all the other people Frank Abagnale Jr. will fool in his next few years of life as a real fake. Frank Jr is the reason we have tight regulation in banking, air travel, and even in the medical field. He smartly found his way through the loopholes that allowed him to benefit from these professional careers without ever being trained. Unfortunately, this overly long film doesn't make forging checks any more interesting than it sounds. At it's heart it plays out like a PG-13 Wolf of Wall Street. Frank finds his loopholes, he gets tons of cash, has sex with a few beautiful ladies, and then the chase begins. Only this story highlights the life of the honest and hard working FBI agent played by Tom Hanks as a stark contrast with the life of a poser. I just didn't think Hank's character is very interesting. He has one good knock-knock joke and that's it. Otherwise, his character feels like the plot device he really is. He simply helps move Frank to the next part of his sometimes interesting story. My biggest issue with this film however is how it treats women. They have absolutely no strength in this story at all. By the time Amy Adams pathetic character is introduced I was sick of the portrayal of weak women. In this way, this film really shows it's age. I revisited this film because I had fond memories of DiCaprio and Hanks working against each other and they have a few great moments together. After this visit though, I think I may be able to put this one to the side for good. It's not a bad film but it's not an especially good one either.

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