Catch Me if You Can is an action thriller that stars Leonardo Di Caprio at his finest and is directed by Steven Spielberg. The film starts with the story of Dicaprio’s young childhood in the movie, playing the role of Frank. He grew up heavily influenced by his father.
Plot And Synopsis
His mother was looked up to as a devoted mother. Money was very tight in their family and DiCaprio’s father had to use his charm and charisma to make a living. He showed Frank how to use this charm. For example, to get a loan from the bank, he rented an expensive car and had Frank act as the driver of the car and open the door in the backseat for him.
This way he would seem like a man of importance and great wealth to the bank owner. However, Frank’s father is unable to convince the bank manager to loan him the money, and Frank’s family is forced to move to a smaller house.
The plot changes dramatically as Frank’s parents who were once a loving couple get a divorce and Frank as a young teenager is forced to decide who to live with; his mother or father. Unable to make a decision and after finding his mother in a relationship with another man, Frank runs away from home. Living on the streets he decides to cash checks for cash and make money. He learns how to press checks against books so that they are creased the right way.
Di Caprio also disguises himself as a school reporter and finds out information about the Pan American airlines pilots and how they travel. He can make traveler’s checks that the airlines use and scam the airline company thousands of dollars. He also learns from a bank teller how to make bank traveler checks and soon he defrauds the government over millions of dollars.
Tom Hanks
The ongoing storyline is Tom Hanks who plays the role of an ambitious FBI agent in the bank fraud department and tries throughout the film to catch Di Caprio. However, DiCaprio is quite an elusive catch and the two develop phone conversations as they both share the characteristics of being lonely.
Frank’s relationship with his father also becomes strained when his father loses faith in him and the two stop talking to each other. At many times in the film, it appears as though Hanks has finally caught Di Caprio but DiCaprio proves to be too smart in his disguises and charades to throw Hanks off his trail.
Towards the end, DiCaprio sets up his own business making fraudulent checks in Europe. Hanks is finally able to track DiCaprio down to the town where his parents first met in France. On the flight back to the United States, Hanks tells him that his father has died which causes an emotional breakdown from DiCaprio.
He can somehow elude Hank’s custody of him once more as he goes to his old house where his mother is staying, only to find out that she has married another man and has new children. He also realizes that Tom Hanks had told him the truth that his father has died. He is put in jail after being sentenced by a judge to a long prison sentence.
However, he does not remain in prison for long as Tom Hanks and another FBI agent come to him to try and determine if a bank check is fraudulent. DiCaprio can use his skills as making fake checks to work for the FBI branch of fraud in banking.
Final Thoughts
I found the film to be very interesting and exciting. Tom Hanks and DiCaprio seem to work very well together as they develop a unique friendship and respect for one another. I highly recommend to and movie viewers that you see this movie.
