"Catch Me" opens with a great, atmospheric animated sequence that is perfectly complemented by John Williams' score. The movie as a whole is an excellent blend of suspense, human drama, and laughs. Although the film deals with some very serious themes, the tone is largely light and fun. Abagnale conducts his scams during the 1960s and the film makes superb use of period music, film, clothing, and cars: it's great fun to look at and listen to.

The performances, script, and direction are first rate. The story is told in a very effective non-chronological fashion. DiCaprio shines in this lead role; he brings a nice mix of charm, brains, and boyish enthusiasm to the character. Hanks' likeable character is an excellent foil for DiCaprio's. Special mention should be made of Christopher Walken's witty yet touching performance as young Abagnale's father. Overall, I found this to be one of the most enjoyable, skillfully crafted, and satisfying films of 2002.

"Catch Me If You Can" was directed by Stephen Spielberg and, along with Minority Report, signifies a revival of Spielberg's directing talent after fifteen years of mediocre-at-best filmmaking. This film is fairly light fare, but it is immensely entertaining, funny, touching, and impeccably cast. Frank Abagnale, Jr. is a perfect fit for Leonardo DiCaprio, and is probably his best role since "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". Tom Hanks seems to have abandoned his typically saccharine roles this year -much to his credit- and puts in a wonderful performance as sympathetic geeky G-man Carl Hanratty (along with a terrific showing in "Road to Perdition"). Christopher Walken was the only actor to receive an Oscar nomination for "Catch Me If You Can". His performance as Frank Abagnale, Sr., our protagonist's down-and-out father, deserved the honor. Frank Jr.'s awkward combination of admiration and pity for his father seems to have been a key motivator in his illustrious life of crime, and Christopher Walken really helps us understand that.

The real Frank Abagnale, Jr. is a successful security consultant these days, protecting businesses from white collar crime. He cooperated with and bascially likes the film, but is quick to point out that "Catch Me If You Can" is based on his biography of the same name that was written about 25 years ago. Mr. Abagnale says that some aspects of his experiences were exaggerated in that book and some have been altered for the movie as well. Whatever the inaccuracies, Frank Abagnale, Jr.'s immense intelligence, ambition, and guts are the most striking elements of the film. It's the rarity of finding all of these qualities in such abundance in one person that make Frank's character so fascinating, and make him one of cinema's most lovable antiheroes.

I highly recommend "Catch Me If You Can" for its great performances and its extremely entertaining story of an ingenious con man and his noble pursuer...made all the more interesting because the story is largely true.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr., who, in real life, masqueraded as a pilot, lawyer, and swindled millions. Tom Hanks is Carl Hanratty (what a name!), the FBI agent who chased Abagnale.

As directed by Steven Spielberg, CMIYC is a very entertaining film. It's well paced, funny, and moving at times.

My one complaint about the DVD is that Janusz Kaminski's cinematography gets mucked up in the transfer to digital. On my widescreen digital TV and proscan DVD player, there are some digital problems in low light scenes with streams of light in the background. You can see digital artifacts floating in the light beams, which ends up looking like a STAR TREK transporter effect! Otherwise, the disc (especially the sound mix) is a treat.

I missed CMIYC in the theaters. I'm glad I finally 'caught it' on DVD.