Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can (2002) is one of Spielberg's lightest films, and it moves like one. Frank Abagnale Jr. passes himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer before he turns twenty, cashing millions in forged cheques along the way. FBI agent Carl Hanratty chases him. The relationship between the two is the actual engine of the film: two lonely men with nobody else to call. One thing is worth carrying in with you. The story comes from Abagnale's own account, and most of that account has since been picked apart by journalists. Flight records and hospital records do not support it. Treat the based on a true story label loosely. The film survives this because what it is really dramatising is a legend, not a case file. DiCaprio and Hanks balance each other unusually well. John Williams wrote against type here too, all light jazz rather than the sweep you expect from him. Good for: con artist stories, period Americana, and anyone who wants something charming rather than tense. Fine to watch with family. Less good for: viewers who want suspense, or who came for documented history.