Catch Me If You Can

If you’ve ever found yourself weirdly rooting for the con artist, Catch Me If You Can channels that messy impulse perfectly. It’s Leonardo DiCaprio at his most charming, zipping through the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., the real-life kid who conned his way into jobs as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer before he was old enough to legally drink. Spielberg keeps the tone surprisingly breezy, even as fraud piles on fraud, and that choice absolutely works. The whole film has this buoyant energy, buoyed by John Williams’ playful score and those snappy, Saul Bass-inspired opening credits.

Something about the pacing is just… spot on. You never feel like you’re stuck in a scheme too long, nor does it rush anything crucial. Watching DiCaprio’s Frank slip in and out of situations, barely catching his breath – it’s exhilarating. And Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty, the dogged FBI agent on Frank’s tail, is having so much fun. Their dynamic is electric, almost like a cat-and-mouse buddy movie but with a looming sense of melancholy underneath.

Visually, the film is gorgeous without trying too hard. Spielberg evokes the 60s with clever lighting and color choices but keeps it grounded, so you’re not distracted by nostalgia for its own sake. I love how every location feels real and lived-in, not just a glossy backdrop for Frank’s antics. That authenticity makes Frank’s charade feel so much riskier.

But yeah, it’s not perfect. Sometimes the emotional heart gets sidelined by the cleverness of the scams. There are moments when you want to dig a little deeper into what drives Frank beyond a few brushstrokes of family drama. The scenes with Christopher Walken, who plays Frank’s dad, hint at something genuinely affecting, but the film never fully commits to that thread. It flirts with real sadness, but then ducks back into stylish escapism.

Still, DiCaprio really is the glue. He slips into adolescent bravado, terror, cockiness and vulnerability with ease, and you actually buy him as a wide-eyed kid one scene, a suave fraudster the next. Hanks, meanwhile, grounds things with his salt-of-the-earth stubbornness. Their phone call scenes are straight-up delightful, loaded with more feeling than most heavy-handed Oscar dramas.

Catch Me If You Can is like eating a very good piece of cake — you know it’s sugar and showmanship, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want. It doesn’t change lives, but it might make you check your ID just a little more closely next time you travel.