Catch Me If You Can, written by Jeff Nathanson based on the books by Frank Abagnale and Stan Redding, 9 out of 10

Catch Me If You Can, written by Jeff Nathanson based on the books by Frank Abagnale and Stan Redding

9 out of 10

Notes and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

This is one of the best films ever made.

It is included on various lists with the greatest motion pictures and on my own best 100 films, maybe 150.

The director is also one of the best in cinema history, the one who offered audiences unforgettable memories with:

-          Schindler’s List, E. T., Saving Private Ryan, Munchen, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, The Color Purple

Even if the story sounds incredible and obviously some scenes have been created for the screen and dramatic effect, this is based on a true story.

With the credits, we also learn about what happens next with the protagonists and even if I will not disclose it, it adds to the feeling of exhilaration.

Frank Abagnale Jr. is a fantastic hero, otherwise an avid reader of comic books, from which he takes one of his aliases.

Leonardo di Caprio is fascinating in this role, together with the other mesmerizing members of the cast:

-          Tom Hanks aka Carl Hanratty, Cristopher Walken aka Frank Abagnale, Martin Sheen as Roger Strong, and splendid Amy Adams in the role of Brenda Strong

Even he never finished high school, The Talented Mr. Abagnale is so skilled at making false documents that he spends millions of dollars.

Because he is still so young and he has some psychological issues, he poses as a doctor, airline pilot and lawyer.

He is chased through most of his criminal life by Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent who becomes attached to his nemesis.

There are funny scenes, one of which has Carl entering Frank’s room to arrest him, only to stumble upon a Secret Service agent.

The latter explains and boasts that they have been ahead and the FBI was not the only ones chasing for Abagnale.

When Carl is asking for an ID, this Secret Service man gives him the wallet and distracts him by showing his partner who escorts the criminal to the car…

Only looking at the wallet, after being alone in the room for some time, Carl sees that he has been fooled- that was Frank and the wallet has nothing but useless newspaper cuts.

If an analyst would try to explain the personality of the young impersonator, perhaps he would say that Frank was dissatisfied with his life, the divorce of his parents and would desperately seek a new ego…

He used the false checks to get money, costumes like the ones James Bond was wearing, a car of the same type and used the name Fleming to travel around, meeting a woman who asked for an offer to spend the night…

Frank is facing a beauty (Jennifer Garner) and when they come to the price of $ 1,000 for the whole night, he cannot help but use a scam, yet again, pretending to go to the reception to cash a check and then taking $ 400 from the woman, because he fooled her with a useless piece of paper that had $ 1,400 written on it.

In a hospital, he meets Brenda Strong- irresistible Amy Adams, especially without the braces-and seduces her, pretending to be a doctor and vomiting when called to work on a bleeding patient, his credentials being obviously all false.

Frank decides to marry the girl, meet her family and Roger Strong aka Martin Sheen who has a law degree and therefore the would be son in law decides to use his law degree (yeah, right!) to work as a… lawyer.

When asked about his degree, it turns out he went to the same school as the father- Berkeley- and there is an awkward moment when Roger Strong asks about a mean professor and his dog…what was the name?...after a long pause in which he kept his cool, Frank says that the dog is dead now, alas.

Then he is invited to say the prayer at table, before they would proceed to eat and the young man does not hesitate:

-          Two mice fell in a bucket of water…one of them fell and drowned and the other kept moving until it became butter…

Even if this is the most outré, fanciful prayer that I have heard- but then I am not a believer, so I do not hear many- the mother was thrilled with it.

After this, Frank has passed the bar exam and his follower Carl keeps asking about how did he pass it…did he cheat?