CATCH ME IF YOU CAN [2002] Leonardo Dicaprio, Tom Hanks ; 12A

Steven Spielberg directs this true to life cat and mouse crime drama. Dicaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr. a con man who steals his way into the record books by becoming the most successful bank robber in history before even his 18th birthday. Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty who chases Abagnale throughout his fraudulent career. Both leads are perfectly suited to their roles and are very enjoyable to watch, however it is Spielberg who makes the film (obviously). 'Catch me if you can' essentially is a drama and however enticing the script may be, in this day and age people want more than sweet talk from a movie. So getting a director who is just content to sit back and film the dialogue, obviously wasn't going to be good enough to make this film appealing. Spielberg thankfully doesn't fit that profile and his presence is very apparent throughout. The less than chronological structure of the movie is handled brilliantly and the movie seamlessly jumps back and forward from different points of the lead characters life, which as a result makes sure that the audience always remains attentive. Overall, the film lives up to it's expectations and I don't think there was any doubt that a Dicaprio, Hanks and Spielberg collaboration wouldn't result in a descent movie. I would like to offer some criticism for you to chew over, but in this case I can't find anything about the film that warrants it. Take your gran, or your teenage daughter, they'll both enjoy it from start to finish.

4/5