How do people classify a biopic? People classify biopics as sort of a boring visual lecture about an important person and it depends whether or not the person would be interested or fascinated by the subject and the person. However, studios depend on the marketing to see if this will get the audience hooked onto the story and/or the trailer. But, it is nice to go watch a biopic because it gets you in a different zone than your usual path of films that are attached to you like for example, most fans, nowadays, would love superhero movies. Yes, those are a blast but sometimes I would like to take a break and watch other things like indies or biopics.
This movie that I will talk about in detail is a sort of different angle of a biopic because it is sort of a light, breezy atmosphere combined with the heavy drama behind his motive to do what this person did and why he did it. The subject, Frank Abagnale Jr., sold the film rights to his autobiography in 1980. It was passed onto many producers and many studios until it landed in Dreamworks with Jeff Nathanson writing the script. Many directors were signed to helm the production but passed due to other projects. Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to star in it and then Steven Spielberg took over the reins of being producer and director. According to DiCaprio, it did not occur to him that he would have been willing to participate in the project but Spielberg said he needed a movie that is "a breath of fresh air" after working on the dark but great Minority Report. Spielberg had captured magic before in his earlier movies but in this underrated caper comedy-drama, he instilled a new light of magic that is fun.
In 1963, Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a teenager living with his mother, Paula (Nathalie Bale) and his father, Frank, Sr. (Christopher Walken). They are having a great life until Frank Sr. is denied a business loan due to IRS difficulties, forcing them to move from a large home into a small apartment. Frank gets in trouble at school as he hilariously poses as a French substitute teacher yet he gets a checkbook with $25 in his checking account from his dad without his mother knowing. Later, troubles arise as Paula is having an affair with her husband's friend from the club, Jack (James Brolin). We do not know if Frank Sr. finds out about the affair but eventually they get a divorce, worrying Frank and causing him to run away.
When he runs out of money and gets thrown out of the street and into a crummy hotel, Frank gets an idea of forging checks and beings relying on scams to get by. Frank's cons start to increase as he begins to impersonate being a Pan-Am pilot after witnessing an employed pilot and his stewardesses. An FBI bank fraud agent named Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) begins monitoring Frank's activities and notices the numbers on the bottom not matching the checks being cashed, meaning that the checks are being bounced. Carl attempts to intercept Frank at the hotel but he is fooled after Frank poses as a Secret Service agent named Barry Allen. But, he escapes and Carl is angered and fooled.
Later, at Christmas, Carl is at work and Frank calls him to apologize for his tomfoolery and duping him. Carl rejects his apology and comments that Frank has nobody else to call, angering Frank and persuading him to hang up the phone. After investigating who Frank is, Carl goes to Paula's house, now married to Jack, and based on Frank's yearbook that Paula kept, he discovers that Frank is 17 years old. Once Carl gets closer, Frank is always a step ahead, posing as a doctor then later, a lawyer in love with a nurse named Brenda (Amy Adams).
SPOILER ALERT!
Most Spielberg movies open on discussion in parallel to family because most of his movies relate to Spielberg's childhood or his relationship to his father. The strongest theme that occurs throughout the movie is family but in two separate occasions that parallel both Frank and Carl. Frank, Jr. is running away because of the situation of his family being shattered and broken. Spielberg's family divorced when he was a teenager and according to him, even though some of his movies center on broken homes and running away from pasts, he had a keen eye for making this movie to become a lighthearted story. We will get back to that theme momentarily.
Anyway, Frank is in a state of confusion, loneliness and quiet rebellion because he is a runaway teenager. But, he has the idea to make some money by changing his name and also "become" somebody else. He does not start to lose himself until he gets immersed by the luxurious perks provided by Pan-Am, as he gets carried away making checks, for example, Frank has different accents and images of toy planes with the logos and the "made" checks that are on the floor. It gets better and worse as he is getting paid, hopefully potentially of making the money to help his family, mainly his father, because of his IRS trouble. Worse, because Hanratty is taking notice of his activities.
But, what makes Frank, Jr. so good at being a chameleon in the world is because of his father as he is trying to con his way to getting what he wants or impressing a person from the higher ranks. He tries to bribe the store clerk with a necklace "he found on the ground". Unfortunately, he failed. However, Frank, Jr. always abide by his father's saying about the two mice. "Two mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse gave up quickly and drowned. The second mouse never gave up and he kept struggling. As the cream churned into butter, he got out." Frank Jr. is trying to become that second mouse to support his family, hopefully get them back together and also start a family on his own.
Now, a bit of foreshadowing takes place in a funny scene when Frank pretends to be a French substitute teacher, he gets in the moment quickly as he meets Carl Hanratty face-to-face in the hotel. Let's take a look at that scene when they meet for the first time:
This scene is a masterclass of acting from both DiCaprio and Hanks. Thinking in cartoon analogies, Hanks is like Wiley Coyote trying to get Frank Jr. because of the check fraud discoveries, however, Frank is the Road Runner thinking every move, improvising and also subtly freaking out and seeing the agent pursuing him face-to-face for the first time. Frank uses his confidence, charisma, knowledge and memories of his father's actions to escape from the law. I mean, the labels taken off the ketchup bottles, soda bottles and jars were ingenious. And, the build-up with John Williams' impeccable score with Hanks uncover DiCaprio's character's wallet is great.
Now, here is another great scene of con magic. Frank is with a call girl named Cheryl Ann (cameoed by Jennifer Garner). This is sexy but subtly clever. So, the hilarious aspect is that Cheryl Ann is negotiating a deal to have Frank pay a lot of money for one night with her. Again, his money is non-existent and the checks are fake. They agree to $1,000 and in one shot as Frank is going over his checks, you can see that there is a $1,000 check but he stops at $1,400. Cheryl Ann notices the cashier's check so they make a deal that Frank gets the $400 difference. BUT, (hee-hee!) Cheryl Ann is paying Frank $400 for one night since the check will not clear.
I like that the personal cons happen in hotel rooms where you can easily get caught or when the other person starts to get suspicious. But, loneliness starts to creep into Frank again as he attempts to apologize to Carl. It is like reality has punched Frank in the face and has to retreat back into fantasy as he cannot call his parents since they do not know where he is and he is still upset at the situation. But, when coming to family in this upcoming scene, you can see Carl being alone in the FBI office as he states that he has no family, but Carl himself is going through a divorce too. As the movie starts to continue on, we, the audience, view Carl as the bad guy even though Frank is the real crook, but a likable crook. However, Carl and Frank Sr. are sort of in the same boat having familial troubles but for different reasons. Carl starts to slowly become a fatherly figure to Frank over the years as Frank's contact, besides his father, is only Carl in the real world.
Frank is living in a fantasy while he is thinking about another fantasy of his parents reuniting again and it is utterly ironic. After a day of traveling and meeting many girls, Frank is in a state of isolation and the dark blue tone captures that moment where it is just Frank alone with Carl on the other side. It is as dark as the abyss as trouble starts to kick in for Frank. But, also, he attempts to fall in love with a nurse named Brenda as he poses as a doctor and later, a lawyer, to impress her parents. He had the chance to fall in love in reality but again Frank as a con artist is in the fantastical world and Brenda unfortunately is living in his fantasy even though he so truly loved her than he reveals his real name to her.
Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a charismatic performance as a troublesome and likable con artist that has the authority and doom creeping in on him and he carries on the weight with such confidence that you could believe that he could make it out and get away. I believe this is one of his best and underrated performances from him and he sells the character and the movie. Tom Hanks, in a rare supporting performance, delivers the performance reminiscing from the movies from the 1950s in those film noir movies that capture investigative and quietly, parental figure in Frank's life that is astonishing. You normally do not see Hanks play those type of roles. Also, an underrated performance is Christopher Walken's acting as his character tries to see the positive light in his struggles in the world. He deserved that Oscar nomination. Martin Sheen is quite good as Brenda's father and even though I did not know her name at the time I saw it for the first time, Amy Adams had this bubbly, sweet performance that I knew that she was going to be in more movies. Starting with Enchanted, I knew she took off immediately. I wonder if DiCaprio and Adams will work together again because they had great chemistry on-screen.
Now, as for the technical side, I would say that is one of Spielberg's best movies, yet, it is definitely one of his most entertaining in his filmography. He captures the breezy, fun atmosphere of the 1960s in Frank's fantasy as a con artist and also he captures the dreary mood of Frank getting caught and Frank being back into reality as he gets caught, goes to prison and works for the FBI for the remainder of his sentence. John Williams, once again, did a masterful job getting a jazzy, jubilant score that gets you immersed into Frank's con games and the benefits of his fantasy. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski also creates that breezy and dreary tones that guides Spielberg's direction impeccably. The lesson is that Frank breaks the law but also can be redeemed by his con knowledge that helps him become one of the most recognized names in the FBI both on the good and bad side. But, unlike Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, Frank did not get money for greed, he got the money for fun but also to help become the second mice to repair that family. Unfortunately, it was too late because he got caught, his father died and he knew that his mother got re-married to Jack.
If you want to sit back and have some fun while watching a biopic, Catch Me if You Can is a great ticket to take on a journey with Frank Abagnale as a pilot, doctor and a lawyer.
Here are the last two sequences that are my favorite in the movie:
Comments
Post a Comment