20 years of ‘Catch Me if You Can’: Steven Spielberg’s greatest 21st-century movie
Steven Spielberg’s place in movie history is about as solidified as the invention of Technicolor in the 1920s, with the revolutionary filmmaking mind bringing some of the best movies ever made into existence. The large majority of these successes came in the 20th century, however, with his fortunes turning somewhat at the turn of the new millennium, where his glittering diamond in the rough remains the 2002 drama, Catch Me If You Can.
After a rocky 1990s of varying degrees of success, with the highs of 1993s Schindler’s List and lows of The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, Spielberg entered the 2000s with a slight degree of critical trepidation. Trying to force his way into the technological promise of the new millennium with the sci-fi odysseys A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report, the celebrated filmmaker eventually found far more success with the 2002 crime caper, a film built with the same vim and vigour as the high-stakes family flicks he was known for.
Led by the cheeky, plump face of rising star Leonardo DiCaprio, Spielberg’s frenetic crime movie tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a high-school student with an active passion for forgery. Barely 21, the young man passes off as a doctor, lawyer and pilot, thrilled by his old abilities to dupe and con, earning millions of dollars across the way as he forges cheques to a remarkable degree of realism.
Carl Hanratty is the FBI agent tasked with taking the con man down, embarking on a solo mission to see that the criminal gets the justice he deserves, armed with only a dogged persistence and the rugged integrity of the good ‘ole American law. Sharing a strange father/son relationship with Abagnale, who is short of the comfort of close friends and family, the dynamic between the two warring leads makes for one of Spielberg’s finest storytelling hours.
Based on the real-life tale and non-fiction novel Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit by Frank W. Abagnale and Stan Redding, Spielberg makes a potentially dry tale about bank fraud into an unmistakable modern masterpiece. With snappy editing and cinematography that matches the charisma of the lead con man, the filmmaker smacks the story along with a flashy style that pre-dates the likes of contemporary wise crackers like James Gunn.
Whilst Spielberg sets the foundations for the film’s success, truly, it is DiCaprio who brings the film to life, proving exactly why he would soon become Hollywood’s supreme leading man. Bringing the charisma that his character demands, as well as the deep-rooted emotional fragility, DiCaprio makes the role his own and provides one of those performances which seems to blend reality and fiction together into an inseparable soup.
Joined by a number of impressive supporting actors, including Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, and Elizabeth Banks, Spielberg’s movie is a special addition to his filmography, which is too often forgotten among his plethora of undisputed classics. Melding the majesty of his previous works with the frenetic pace of 21st-century cinema, Catch Me If You Can is a testament to Spielberg’s masterful storytelling, unravelling a story about a con artist that is encrusted with so much more.
