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Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, and Jennifer Garner. Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski. Edited by Michael Kahn. Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Steven Spielberg. Written by Jeff Nathanson. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
After running away from his family troubles, Frank Abagnale, Jr. launched himself into the crime spree of the century. In addition to cashing over four million dollars in fraudulent checks, Abagnale was able to travel freely all over the country by impersonating a Pan Am airline pilot. Over the course of his criminal career he also passed himself off as a college professor, a pediatrician, an assistant district attorney, and a secret service agent; all before he turned twenty one. His exploits immediately caught the attention of the FBI who quickly made him the youngest person to ever find a spot on their most wanted list. Abagnale and Carl Hanratty, the agent in charge of his case, spend the next five years playing an amazing game of cat and mouse that literally takes them all over the world.
When Steven Spielberg was sixteen years old his parents separated. Three years later they divorced. The difficulties of growing up in a broken home had a great effect on him and have subsequently made a huge impact on his filmmaking career. Perhaps the most notable early example of this is in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial where Elliot’s father has run off to Mexico, leaving his wife and three children behind. But that’s not the only appearance by a deficient father in a Spielberg movie. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind Roy abandons his family to indulge his obsession. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade it becomes apparent that Indy grew up with a negligent father. And Peter in Hook has totally forgotten his children to pursue his career. But the damaging effects of a troubled home on a child have never been as deeply explored in a Spielberg production as they are in Catch Me If You Can. In the film, it is his parent’s divorce that sparks the adventure. Abagnale’s motivations are never hateful or malicious, in fact the major catalysts in starting a life in crime was to help his father pay off his debt to the IRS and bring his family back together. Abagnale fits perfectly on the ever growing list of hurt Spielberg children searching the world for answers.
Catch Me If You Can is based on Abagnale’s best-selling autobiographical novel first published in 1980. The project was originally slated to be directed by Gore Verbinski, but when Leonardo DiCaprio’s schedule was pushed back, Verbinski was forced to drop out of the production. After exhausting a short list of other potential directors, Spielberg, who had been attached as the film’s producer from early in developmental stages, decided to jump in and give it a go himself. It was the complete about-face shift in theme from his previous project (Minority Report) that ended up making the film so appealing to him. He shot the film in fifty six day on more than one hundred and forty sets; a pace he claims to have never attempted in his entire career. The intensity of the production is matched by the energy of the picture. Catch Me If You Can is an extremely fun movie to watch and audiences across the world seemed to agree. It was financial and critical success for Spielberg and another victory in a very impressive winning streak.
Budget: $52,000,000
Total US Gross: $164,606,800
Genre: Crime
Runtime: 141 Minutes
US Release Date: 12/25/02
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (intended ratio)
Awards: Academy Awards: Nominated for best original score and best supporting actor. Golden Globes: Nominated for best actor in a dramatic role.
Tagline: The True Story Of A Real Fake.
Quote: “Brenda, I don't want to lie to you anymore, all right? I'm not a doctor. I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer, or a Harvard graduate, or a Lutheran.”
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