Extras:
Behind the Camera, The Casting of the Film, Scoring Catch Me If You Can,
Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction, The FBI Perspective,
Catch Me If You Can in Closing, Photo Gallery
Director:
Steven Spielberg
(1941, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Always, Amistad, Catch Me If You Can, Close Encounter of the Third Kind, The Color Purple, Duel, Empire of the Sun, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Hook, The Indiana Jones Trilogy,
Jaws, Jurassic Park 1 & 2, Minority Report, Poltergeist (uncredited), Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List)
Producers:
Walter F Parkes and Steven Spielberg
Screenplay:
Jeff Nathanson (based on the book by Frank Abagnale Jr & Stan Redding)
Original Score :
John Williams
Cast :
Frank Abagnale Jr: Leonardo DiCaprio
Carl Hanratty: Tom Hanks
Frank Abagnale Sr: Christopher Walken
Roger Strong: Martin Sheen
Paula Abagnale: Nathalie Baye
Brenda Strong: Amy Adams
Jack Barnes: James Brolin
Earl Amdursky: Brian Howe
Cheryl Ann: Jennifer Garner
'Cheque' it out...
Catch Me If You Can
is a film based on a true story - and the book written by the man who actioned
it all, in which teenager Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo DiCaprio) learned
the tricks of scamming from his father, Frank Sr (Christopher Walken),
to the point where he spent the latter part of the 1960s forging cheques
and living a lifestyle of a pilot, doctor and lawyer, effectively borrowing
other people's lives as he watches the behaviour of others - the same
professions being done on TV - and affects a number of pseudonyms.
In the other corner is FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who knows
he's out there but keeps evading his grasp whenever he gets close. This is an
inoffensive film but just doesn't feel particularly involving. It plays out
exactly the way I expected it to and offers no surprises other than throwing
in a seemingly redundant sub-plot about Abagnale's parents' divorce. Ok, so
it's a story based on real events but that doesn't make them particularly
engaging.
There's brief appearances from Hollywood long-timers like Walken, Martin
Sheen and James Brolin, plus Alias and Daredevil cutie
Jennifer Garner, but there's nothing to stretch them either. In fact,
despite the authentic feel of the movie, there's nothing to make me recommend
this to anyone.
...someone's living the high life.
Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, early on the prospects for the
image don't look too good as the picture flickers a bit but later it settles
down and becomes perfectly watchable without any further defects.
The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 for English, French and German, plus a
DTS option in English. I always take the latter, but while there's no problems
here, it's a drama which doesn't make much use of the speakers. I also found
the endless theme tune quite irritating, especially since it's used throughout
the menus and extras.
Behind the camera (17 mins):
Presented in non-anamorphic 16:9, a brief look at how the film was put together
with comments from various cast and crew members. One of those featurettes
that, like the film, holds no surprises.
Cast Me If You Can (28 mins):
Hanks, DiCaprio, Walken and others talk about how they were cast for the film.
Scoring "Catch Me If You Can" (5 mins):
Composer John Williams gives his input on the 20th film he's done with
Spielberg.
Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction (15 mins):
A featurette about the man himself and what he got up to.
The FBI Perspective (7 mins):
A featurette about how those playing FBI agents should behave in the film.
Catch Me If You Can in Closing (5 mins):
A few more extra minutes of more of the same.
Photo Galleries:
Split into three sections - cast, behind the scenes and set design.
Some people may like this film, and if so they'll find something of worth
within the extras, but if you felt the movie was lacking, these pedestrian
supplements won't change your view.
Subtitles for the film come in five languages: English (and hard of hearing),
French, German, Bulgarian and Arabic, there are 22 chapters to the film
and the menus feature music from the film to fit in with the theme.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
