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How far will someone go to keep his family intact?
To charming, intelligent and young Frank Abagnale, Jr. [Leonardo DiCaprio] his family is most important in his life. Frank, Jr. is raised in an environment with so much love, that he finds it difficult to accept that when his father, Frank Abagnale, Sr. [Christopher Walken] loses his money, it will lead to a divorce with his mother Paula (Nathalie Baye). Frank, Jr. runs away and begins a life of pretensions in his bid to regain his dad's lost fortune. He impersonates a co-pilot of Pan Am airlines, a doctor, a secret agent and a lawyer to make it easy for him to encash the checks he forged. Carl Hanratty [Tom Hanks], a stiff, intelligent, but somewhat gullible FBI agent is in-charge of capturing Frank, Jr. and many times fails to apprehend the latter despite adequate support from the law enforcement agencies. In their cat and mouse chases, a special relationship develops between the two protagonists. Frank, Jr. loves his dad dearly and misses the feeling of his family life before, that after meeting Brenda [Amy Adams], the daughter of a local district attorney [Martin Sheen] in New Orleans, he decides to settle down with her. But his past catches up with him and he is forced to move on. When will all this end?
The movie dwells on the family through a lot of symbolisms and repetition of lines. Director
Steven Spielberg underlines the importance of what the child becomes within a family, which is the seedbed of values.
The performances of the actors, who are adept in both drama and comedy, give justice to the roles they portray in the film. Some of the scenes, though funny, would sometimes border on the unnatural. For most of the film, the pace is quick, until the final few minutes where it becomes prolonged and its importance questionable. Overall it is a good film with a good story, easy to watch and entertaining.
Christian values are conveyed throughout the film, such as a son's love and respect for his
father. Frank, Jr. is given a talent and he uses it for the wrong things.
However, it is not important how one used his given talents before, but how he will use it from now and onwards. There is freedom to choose which path to follow and in the cae of Frank, Jr., whether or not he did what he did to reunite his family or because he enjoyed doing it, one can never tell. One thing is true, he has a conscience and it will direct him to a path of conversation.
(Date Reviewed: January 31, 2003)
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