Title: "Catch Me If You Can"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: S. Spielberg, M. Shane, W.F. Parkes, L. MacDonald
Editing: Michael Kahn
Composer: John Williams
Starring:
- Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr.
- Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale, Sr.
- Amy Adams as Brenda Strong
Plot and Critical Review: The film begins in 1969, with FBI agent Carl Hanratty Jr. arriving at a French prison to Frank Abagnale Jr, who attempts escape. The scene flashes back to six years earlier. Frank's father cons a woman into lending him a suit for Frank Jr., who later acts as a driver for Frank Sr. in a ruse to get a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. When the loan is denied (due to a series of IRS tax frauds by Frank Sr.), the family is forced to move from their grand home to a small apartment. Tension begins to build within the family.
Frank soon realizes that his mother is having an adulterous affair with his father's friend. Eventually trouble builds between Frank's mother and father, who file for divorce and ask Frank to choose who he will live with. Horrified, Frank runs away from home, using checks that his father had given him to get by. When Frank runs out of money he begins to use confidence scams. Frank's cons grow ever bolder and he even impersonates an airline pilot. He forges Pan-Am payroll checks and succeeds in stealing over 2.8 million dollars.
Meanwhile Carl Hanratty, FBI agent, begins to track down Frank. Tracking Frank to a hotel, Carl discovers that Frank is still living there and breaks into his room to arrest him. Emerging from the bathroom and knowing only that Carl is from the FBI, Frank pretends to be Agent Barry Allen of the United States Secret Service and brazenly claims to have just caught the suspect himself. It is not until after Frank has escaped that Carl realizes he has been fooled.
Frank soon attempts to use the money that he has stolen to find a way to reunite his parents. He invites his Dad to a fancy restaurant, and gives him the keys to a brand-new Cadillac. Frank Sr explains that he can't accept the gift since the IRS is still watching him.
Later, on Christmas Eve, Carl is working in the office late and alone. Frank calls him to apologize for tricking him back at the hotel. Carl announces that it doesn't work that way and, to Frank's horror, realizes the reason for the call: Frank has no one else to talk to. Frank hangs up, and Carl continues to investigate. He later discovers that Frank is actually a teenage minor, which explains why they have been unsuccessful in finding a record of him.
Remembering that Frank had made a reference to the New York Yankees, Carl has his men check for runaways in New York. Their search eventually leads them to Frank's mother, who has remarried. After seeing Frank's yearbook picture, Carl now knows who his suspect is.
Frank, meanwhile, has not only changed to impersonating a doctor in Georgia, but is romancing Brenda Strong, a Southern belle and a hospital nurse. He proposes marriage to her, at least partly to try to engineer a reconciliation with her parents who have disowned her since she had an abortion. The two travel to meet her parents in Louisiana, announcing that he is a qualified lawyer as well as a doctor. Frank soon joins Brenda's father as an assistant prosecutor after passing the Bar.
Frank soon decides to marry Brenda tells his father. It is here that Frank Sr. informs his son that Frank's mother has remarried, devastating Frank. After Frank leaves his father, he calls Carl, wanting the chase to end in the wake of his wanting to settle down. Carl informs Frank that this is not possible since Frank has stolen some $4 million. The hunt continues.
When Hanratty tracks him down and arrives at Brenda's home to arrest him, Frank admits the truth to Brenda, shows her all his stolen money and asks her to run away with him. She accepts his offer and agrees to meet him two days later at the airport. However, when she arrives as planned, he sees Brenda being coached by FBI agents, who have surrounded the airport. Realizing that Carl has convinced her to turn against him, Frank escapes on a flight to Europe.
Seven months later, Carl angrily tells his boss that Frank has been forging checks all over the Eastern Hemisphere - only this time, the checks are the real thing. Arguing that Frank is out of control, he requests permission to track him down in Europe. When his boss denies him permission, Carl takes one of Frank's bogus checks to professional printers who suggest it can have been printed in only a handful of European countries. Remembering from an interview with Frank's mother Paula that she was born in France, Carl travels to her birthplace of Montrichard and finds Frank there, on Christmas Eve, inside a massive printing factory. Carl tells Frank that the French police outside will kill him if he doesn't surrender quietly. They walk out and the French police arrive and escort Frank to prison. The French police take Frank away, with Carl promising to have Frank extradited back to the US. After 7 years, Frank is released into Carl's custody.
Later, on the plane extraditing Frank to the United States, Carl informs him that his father has died accidentally. Devastated, Frank escapes from the plane in incredible fashion and tracks down his mother. Here he finds his her with her second husband, as well as a young girl who Frank realizes is his half-sister. Before he can even speak to his mother, however, the posse of police arrive and Frank surrenders.
Frank is tried, convicted and given a long prison sentence, but while in prison receives regular visits from Carl. During one of these visits, Frank easily deduces the identity of a forger by glancing at a check that Carl shows him. Impressed, Carl arranges for Frank to be allowed to serve out the remainder of his sentence working for the check fraud department of the FBI under Carl's custody. Although Frank is out of prison, he is chained to his desk-job and misses the thrill of his old life and even attempts to pose as an airline pilot once again. Just as he tries to run again, he meets Carl at the airport. Carl allows him to go free, predicting that Frank will return to work on Monday since there is no one chasing him.
Back in the office on Monday morning, Carl is nervous when Frank doesn't appear for work on time. He is afraid that he has run away and ruined both their lives, but Frank soon shows up and asks Carl about their next case. Bristling, Carl demands to know how Frank cheated on the Bar Exam in Louisiana, to which Frank replies that he didn't: he had studied and genuinely passed the exam. Astounded, Carl asks him "Is that the truth, Frank?" to which Frank merely smiles. Carl smiles back and the two continue to their investigation work together.
The easiest way to say it: "Spielberg strikes again!"
My Rating: 7.5/10
Content to Caution:
V-2 - Some scuffles, pursuit, and threatening with a hand gun.
L-3 - Rough language throughout, but not too terribly thick.
DU-1 - Some drinking and smoking.
RT-0 – No comment.
H/S-0 – No comment.
CH-1 – No comment.
S/N-2.5 – Two scenes of partial nudity and sexual intimacy.
The "Reel Revelation": "Deviation"
John Williams (the composer, not the guitarist) and Steven Spielberg have worked together for almost 30 years, completing over 20 film projects together. Their marriage of directing and scoring (composing music for movies) is arguably the most profound in the motion picture industry. Their partnership is, without argument, the most decorated, as the two have collected a combined 59 Oscar nominations and 8 Oscar wins. You'll be hard-pressed to watch a successful Spielberg movie and not hear John Williams' music on the soundtrack.
We all know Williams' music when we hear it; the bombastic "Star Wars" anthem, the thrilling finale from "E.T.", and the heartbreaking theme (masterfully played by Itzhak Perlman) from "Schindler's List". If you happened to listen to the score from "Catch Me If You Can", however, you might not even recognize it as Williams' unless someone told you so. The greater portion of the score is composed in the style of 60s progressive jazz to compliment the time period in which the film is set. Of this deviation in composition style for this project Williams said: "In all of those years, we'd (he and Spielberg) never really done a piece like this. "Catch Me If You Can is a sort of bonbon, if you like. It's light, it's amusing, and entertaining - oddly enough - about a serious subject. But as I say, this bonbon presented me some interesting musical changes and challenges from the other films."
Do you see his attitude toward the deviation he faced in "Catch..."'s musical departure from the style of his other scores? He looked at the challenge as a bonbon - a treat! As a composer it gave him the chance to revisit parts of his musical life he'd left behind as he was called to compose in different styles. It was a treat for him, and I believe his attitude had a direct influence on the quality of the music he produced.
Do we decide to summon the same sort of excitement and expectation when we're faced with deviations from our normal routine?
When I left home for college in 2005, I went away with every intention of studying and acquiring a degree in Youth and Family Ministry; the area of church ministry I had been working in for a few years. I was shocked when God stepped in my path and deviated me toward music and worship theology. Within a matter of weeks i'd changed my major, was taking piano lessons, and was on a totally different track! And I was terrified! This sort of deviation took me totally out of my comfort zone and placed me in a world i'd never known before. But I fought with my fears and dedicated myself to my studies, practice, and the pursuit of the new calling God had placed before me. Looking back on that experience I remember these words from the Psalms:
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)
This popular verse promises us guidance and illumination on the path, but says nothing of the path itself. Who knows where we will go, or where God will lead us? Who can say what sorts of deviations we'll face?! No one but God can say for sure, of course, but we know that God's Word and His promise will show us the way even when the path takes an unexpected turn. In closing, permit me to share the lyrics from a song I recently wrote which I believe reflects our need to have faith in God when we face deviations of any kind. The song is called "Go With God":
Who do we turn to when we realize that we’ve lost the way?
Where will our hearts go when shadows threaten the day?
We cry for guidance as we wander through this great world of fear.
Even in darkness, we know His light will appear.
We will go with God and walk the righteous road
That leads to the cross where Jesus bled and died.
We will go with God, wherever He may lead,
And kneel at the cross where perfect love can be found.
Where is the pathway, when the road we’re on falls out from our feet?
Will there be safety when we face total defeat?
Faith is the answer, faith in God alone to rescue our souls.
Even in trials, by grace, our faith will be bold!
We will go with God and walk the righteous road
That leads to the cross where Jesus bled and died.
We will go with God, wherever He may lead,
And kneel at the cross where perfect love can be found.
See you tomorrow - E.T.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: S. Spielberg, M. Shane, W.F. Parkes, L. MacDonald
Editing: Michael Kahn
Composer: John Williams
Starring:
- Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr.
- Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale, Sr.
- Amy Adams as Brenda Strong
Plot and Critical Review: The film begins in 1969, with FBI agent Carl Hanratty Jr. arriving at a French prison to Frank Abagnale Jr, who attempts escape. The scene flashes back to six years earlier. Frank's father cons a woman into lending him a suit for Frank Jr., who later acts as a driver for Frank Sr. in a ruse to get a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. When the loan is denied (due to a series of IRS tax frauds by Frank Sr.), the family is forced to move from their grand home to a small apartment. Tension begins to build within the family.
Frank soon realizes that his mother is having an adulterous affair with his father's friend. Eventually trouble builds between Frank's mother and father, who file for divorce and ask Frank to choose who he will live with. Horrified, Frank runs away from home, using checks that his father had given him to get by. When Frank runs out of money he begins to use confidence scams. Frank's cons grow ever bolder and he even impersonates an airline pilot. He forges Pan-Am payroll checks and succeeds in stealing over 2.8 million dollars.
Meanwhile Carl Hanratty, FBI agent, begins to track down Frank. Tracking Frank to a hotel, Carl discovers that Frank is still living there and breaks into his room to arrest him. Emerging from the bathroom and knowing only that Carl is from the FBI, Frank pretends to be Agent Barry Allen of the United States Secret Service and brazenly claims to have just caught the suspect himself. It is not until after Frank has escaped that Carl realizes he has been fooled.
Frank soon attempts to use the money that he has stolen to find a way to reunite his parents. He invites his Dad to a fancy restaurant, and gives him the keys to a brand-new Cadillac. Frank Sr explains that he can't accept the gift since the IRS is still watching him.
Later, on Christmas Eve, Carl is working in the office late and alone. Frank calls him to apologize for tricking him back at the hotel. Carl announces that it doesn't work that way and, to Frank's horror, realizes the reason for the call: Frank has no one else to talk to. Frank hangs up, and Carl continues to investigate. He later discovers that Frank is actually a teenage minor, which explains why they have been unsuccessful in finding a record of him.
Remembering that Frank had made a reference to the New York Yankees, Carl has his men check for runaways in New York. Their search eventually leads them to Frank's mother, who has remarried. After seeing Frank's yearbook picture, Carl now knows who his suspect is.
Frank, meanwhile, has not only changed to impersonating a doctor in Georgia, but is romancing Brenda Strong, a Southern belle and a hospital nurse. He proposes marriage to her, at least partly to try to engineer a reconciliation with her parents who have disowned her since she had an abortion. The two travel to meet her parents in Louisiana, announcing that he is a qualified lawyer as well as a doctor. Frank soon joins Brenda's father as an assistant prosecutor after passing the Bar.
Frank soon decides to marry Brenda tells his father. It is here that Frank Sr. informs his son that Frank's mother has remarried, devastating Frank. After Frank leaves his father, he calls Carl, wanting the chase to end in the wake of his wanting to settle down. Carl informs Frank that this is not possible since Frank has stolen some $4 million. The hunt continues.
When Hanratty tracks him down and arrives at Brenda's home to arrest him, Frank admits the truth to Brenda, shows her all his stolen money and asks her to run away with him. She accepts his offer and agrees to meet him two days later at the airport. However, when she arrives as planned, he sees Brenda being coached by FBI agents, who have surrounded the airport. Realizing that Carl has convinced her to turn against him, Frank escapes on a flight to Europe.
Seven months later, Carl angrily tells his boss that Frank has been forging checks all over the Eastern Hemisphere - only this time, the checks are the real thing. Arguing that Frank is out of control, he requests permission to track him down in Europe. When his boss denies him permission, Carl takes one of Frank's bogus checks to professional printers who suggest it can have been printed in only a handful of European countries. Remembering from an interview with Frank's mother Paula that she was born in France, Carl travels to her birthplace of Montrichard and finds Frank there, on Christmas Eve, inside a massive printing factory. Carl tells Frank that the French police outside will kill him if he doesn't surrender quietly. They walk out and the French police arrive and escort Frank to prison. The French police take Frank away, with Carl promising to have Frank extradited back to the US. After 7 years, Frank is released into Carl's custody.
Later, on the plane extraditing Frank to the United States, Carl informs him that his father has died accidentally. Devastated, Frank escapes from the plane in incredible fashion and tracks down his mother. Here he finds his her with her second husband, as well as a young girl who Frank realizes is his half-sister. Before he can even speak to his mother, however, the posse of police arrive and Frank surrenders.
Frank is tried, convicted and given a long prison sentence, but while in prison receives regular visits from Carl. During one of these visits, Frank easily deduces the identity of a forger by glancing at a check that Carl shows him. Impressed, Carl arranges for Frank to be allowed to serve out the remainder of his sentence working for the check fraud department of the FBI under Carl's custody. Although Frank is out of prison, he is chained to his desk-job and misses the thrill of his old life and even attempts to pose as an airline pilot once again. Just as he tries to run again, he meets Carl at the airport. Carl allows him to go free, predicting that Frank will return to work on Monday since there is no one chasing him.
Back in the office on Monday morning, Carl is nervous when Frank doesn't appear for work on time. He is afraid that he has run away and ruined both their lives, but Frank soon shows up and asks Carl about their next case. Bristling, Carl demands to know how Frank cheated on the Bar Exam in Louisiana, to which Frank replies that he didn't: he had studied and genuinely passed the exam. Astounded, Carl asks him "Is that the truth, Frank?" to which Frank merely smiles. Carl smiles back and the two continue to their investigation work together.
The easiest way to say it: "Spielberg strikes again!"
My Rating: 7.5/10
Content to Caution:
V-2 - Some scuffles, pursuit, and threatening with a hand gun.
L-3 - Rough language throughout, but not too terribly thick.
DU-1 - Some drinking and smoking.
RT-0 – No comment.
H/S-0 – No comment.
CH-1 – No comment.
S/N-2.5 – Two scenes of partial nudity and sexual intimacy.
The "Reel Revelation": "Deviation"
John Williams (the composer, not the guitarist) and Steven Spielberg have worked together for almost 30 years, completing over 20 film projects together. Their marriage of directing and scoring (composing music for movies) is arguably the most profound in the motion picture industry. Their partnership is, without argument, the most decorated, as the two have collected a combined 59 Oscar nominations and 8 Oscar wins. You'll be hard-pressed to watch a successful Spielberg movie and not hear John Williams' music on the soundtrack.
We all know Williams' music when we hear it; the bombastic "Star Wars" anthem, the thrilling finale from "E.T.", and the heartbreaking theme (masterfully played by Itzhak Perlman) from "Schindler's List". If you happened to listen to the score from "Catch Me If You Can", however, you might not even recognize it as Williams' unless someone told you so. The greater portion of the score is composed in the style of 60s progressive jazz to compliment the time period in which the film is set. Of this deviation in composition style for this project Williams said: "In all of those years, we'd (he and Spielberg) never really done a piece like this. "Catch Me If You Can is a sort of bonbon, if you like. It's light, it's amusing, and entertaining - oddly enough - about a serious subject. But as I say, this bonbon presented me some interesting musical changes and challenges from the other films."
Do you see his attitude toward the deviation he faced in "Catch..."'s musical departure from the style of his other scores? He looked at the challenge as a bonbon - a treat! As a composer it gave him the chance to revisit parts of his musical life he'd left behind as he was called to compose in different styles. It was a treat for him, and I believe his attitude had a direct influence on the quality of the music he produced.
Do we decide to summon the same sort of excitement and expectation when we're faced with deviations from our normal routine?
When I left home for college in 2005, I went away with every intention of studying and acquiring a degree in Youth and Family Ministry; the area of church ministry I had been working in for a few years. I was shocked when God stepped in my path and deviated me toward music and worship theology. Within a matter of weeks i'd changed my major, was taking piano lessons, and was on a totally different track! And I was terrified! This sort of deviation took me totally out of my comfort zone and placed me in a world i'd never known before. But I fought with my fears and dedicated myself to my studies, practice, and the pursuit of the new calling God had placed before me. Looking back on that experience I remember these words from the Psalms:
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)
This popular verse promises us guidance and illumination on the path, but says nothing of the path itself. Who knows where we will go, or where God will lead us? Who can say what sorts of deviations we'll face?! No one but God can say for sure, of course, but we know that God's Word and His promise will show us the way even when the path takes an unexpected turn. In closing, permit me to share the lyrics from a song I recently wrote which I believe reflects our need to have faith in God when we face deviations of any kind. The song is called "Go With God":
Who do we turn to when we realize that we’ve lost the way?
Where will our hearts go when shadows threaten the day?
We cry for guidance as we wander through this great world of fear.
Even in darkness, we know His light will appear.
We will go with God and walk the righteous road
That leads to the cross where Jesus bled and died.
We will go with God, wherever He may lead,
And kneel at the cross where perfect love can be found.
Where is the pathway, when the road we’re on falls out from our feet?
Will there be safety when we face total defeat?
Faith is the answer, faith in God alone to rescue our souls.
Even in trials, by grace, our faith will be bold!
We will go with God and walk the righteous road
That leads to the cross where Jesus bled and died.
We will go with God, wherever He may lead,
And kneel at the cross where perfect love can be found.
See you tomorrow - E.T.
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