There are a few reasons why I enjoy Catch Me If You Can (2002).  It is not because the film’s protagonist, Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), is a con artist.  The story, as stated early on in the proceedings, is “inspired by true events.”  It would seem that the real person on which this is based fabricated much of what you see, which only makes for several layers of distasteful lies.  It is the quality of the movie that I most appreciate.  DiCaprio did not resort to shouting, which seems to be his go to acting style.  It also does not hurt that it was directed by the capable hands of Steven Spielberg.  Yet, there is one moment in it that reminded me of why it touches me, and it is a brief one.  Not to get ahead of myself, but there is a scene when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) is going to arrest Frank in a small village in France.  It is Christmas, everything is still, and the only sound you hear as Agent Hanratty walks across the small square is the sound of people singing “Angels We Have Heard on High,” presumably during Midnight Mass.  One of these days I would like to experience such a setting for myself.  In the meantime, we have this piece of cinema.

Though I have already spoiled Catch Me If You Can, which should not be a new experience if you read my reviews, it is worth noting that the actual beginning tells you anyway that Frank has been arrested.  Agent Hanratty has come to France to extradite Frank back to the United States.  Agent Hanratty finds Frank in a wretched condition.  Still, Frank is not in such poor shape that he cannot manage one more escape attempt before passing out on the floor of the penitentiary.  How he gets to this state is the subject of much of the rest of the film.  He had been living a good life with his mother, the French expatriate Paula (Nathalie Baye), and father, Frank Abagnale Sr. (Christopher Walken).  Times are good while dad has a job and they can afford the lifestyle owning one’s own business affords them.  Everything is not as it seems, however.  This is apparent when Senior asks Junior to impersonate a limousine driver in order to make dad look more well off in an attempt to get a bank loan.  It is clear that dad’s success is a front masking many failures, which he can no longer hide as they are forced to move to less expensive housing.  Paula takes this poorly, having got used to a more opulent lifestyle.  To fulfill this desire, she seeks out lovers, later marrying one of Frank Sr.’s former business partners.  Frank Jr., meanwhile, begins manifesting his own con artist traits when he spends a week impersonating a substitute teacher for his high school French course.  What really launches his criminal career is when he is asked to choose between his mother and father upon their divorce.  Instead, he runs away.  In order to provide for himself, he takes up what is sometimes referred to as “paper hanging.”  This means writing false checks.  He also has what one might call the “gift of gab.”  In other words, he can talk most people into anything.  He continues doing this until he starts getting noticed by banks.  Every time he encounters a potential obstacle, however, his techniques become more elaborate.  This is how he becomes a co-pilot for Pan-American Airlines despite being too young and having never piloted a plane.  Instead, he poses as a student wanting to do research for a school paper, interviews the head of personnel for the company, and learns all he needs to talk himself into getting the proper uniform.  This leads to higher paychecks, though still fraudulent.  One of his goals in doing this is to get his family back together.  As his ill-gotten gains grow, he checks in with his father to inform him about all he is doing and telling dad that he will “get everything back.”  Frank Sr. humors his son, but it is clear that he continues to financially struggle and refuses Frank Jr.’s help.  Eventually, Agent Hanratty takes notice of Frank’s activities.  Agent Hanratty tracks Frank to Los Angeles and enters the hotel room in which Frank is staying.  Frank talks his way out of the situation, collecting his check making machine while convincing Agent Hanratty that the younger man is a cop.  It is only after Frank is getting away does Agent Hanratty realize his mistake.  For Frank, this means he needs a new racket, and this is how he becomes a doctor in Atlanta.  Once more, it is a con, but it is in this guise that he meets a nurse named Brenda Strong (Amy Adams).  He comforts her when he finds her upset after being scolded for a mistake, and eventually their romance leads to him proposing.  This takes them to New Orleans where Frank must meet Carol (Nancy Lenehan) and Roger Strong (Martin Sheen), Brenda’s parents.  Roger is a little cleverer than those with whom Frank is used to dealing.  Thus, Frank decides to pivot once more and enter Roger’s profession, being an attorney, forced to do so when Frank claims to have studied law.  As we later learn, though, supposedly Frank actually passed the Louisiana bar exam.  Unfortunately for him Agent Hanratty is still pursuing him.  He comes to New Orleans on the day of Brenda and Frank’s engagement party, having been led there when he sees letters exchanged between Junior and Senior.  Once more, Frank flees, this time going overseas and taking up his usual mode of operation.  This is when the film comes full circle to the beginning.  On the plane ride returning to the United States, Agent Hanratty tells Frank’s that Frank Sr. has passed away, which greatly upsets Junior.  He thus manages to escape from the airplane as it lands, running off to see Paula’s new life, one similar to the one he wanted with his parents.  Agent Hanratty finds him there and Frank goes to prison.  The story does not end there, though, as Agent Hanratty soon finds Frank to be an invaluable source of information on other paper hangers.  Thus, Frank spends the next few decades helping the FBI track down other criminals like him.

You may have noticed as I described Catch Me If You Can’s plot that I said that Frank “supposedly” passed the Louisiana bar exam.  This is because the little research I did on the real Frank Abagnale Jr. revealed that there is some question as to whether he actually did any of what he claims.  What is more interesting to me, be it the movie or real-life version, is what draws a person to construct such elaborate lies.  Even though Frank is a criminal, the film does a good job of making him a sympathetic character.  It does not condone his actions, but you can see how he is just a kid who misses his family, and is seeking to recapture that lost feeling.  This is something God instilled in each of us when He created us.  The Church has woven this into vocations.  Married life is the most obvious one.  While Frank does do some rather naughty things with his illicit money, the main thrust of his activities is in having his own family, either with his parents or Brenda.  The bigger problem, however, is in the deceitfulness.  If there is one thing that you cannot do, that nobody can do, it is fool God.  To Frank, people are easy.  The line in the movie that relates to how he sees people is one given him by his dad, and that is that the Yankees always win because spectators cannot stop staring at the pinstripes on their uniforms.  The idea here is that you can dazzle the casual on-looker who is usually more apt to assume the best from people.  One could say that we are gullible.  I prefer to see it as our God-given innocence, a precious gift.  It is that last bit that Frank never seems to completely lose despite some of his questionable practices.  He wants something pure, something close to Godliness.  The sad part is that he never had anyone to teach him the proper way of going about it.  

If you are interested in a well-made chase film, then I recommend Catch Me If You Can.  There is some questionable material in it, but nothing over-the-top.  As a practicing Catholic, I also appreciate how Brenda’s abortion is handled.  To be clear, you do not see this procedure happen.  Rather, it is, for her, an embarrassing part of her past that she tearfully admits to Frank.  He treats her with the kind of compassion that should be afforded to all people who make that awful choice, and one I find more common among Catholics than the so-called “Pro-Choice” mob would have you believe.  This is also a small part of the movie.  In total, it is worth your time.