Dec. 31, 2002 - 12:42 am

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Catch Me If You Can (2002)

well, this is sort of a side note to the Daniel Day-Lewis theme of the week i guess. Colin and I had been talking about going to see this one for quite a while, so i finally found the time for that this evening since i have the day off work tomorrow. this one probably won't get a lot of nominations for awards, but there are tons of awesome films that don't get nominated for much of anything.

also, keep in mind that i tend to rate Steven Spielberg's stuff pretty highly. i don't know about how i feel about him as an individual, but he's a creative genius. you can't deny that unless you're a moron.

this is actually a film with a reality base. there really was a guy who this is based on. it's about Frank Abagnale Jr. who is one of the biggest young con artists who ever lived. in the late 1960s he wrote over $4 million worth of fraudulent checks and posed as a doctor, lawyer, and airline pilot. that was all while he was still a minor. so this is the story of why and how he was who he was back then, and the friendly, inexperienced FBI agent who chased and eventually captured him.

first of all, everyone's talking about how much fun this movie is to watch. well it's true. i was either smiling or laughing like 75% of the time. this film has a great sense of humor. and i mean when you get Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg together doing a comedy, you know it's going to be awesome. (be sure to watch for the Forrest Gump (1994) reference.)

man, the intro titles for this movie are great. probably the best and most creative this year. and they're even sort of a throwback to some of the title sequences for motion pictures that ran in the 60s. plus, music by John Williams.

hey, this might actually be a movie that people will remember Christopher Walken from. i don't know if you've ever tried to explain who Christopher Walken is to someone who doesn't watch enough good movies, but it's damn hard. this movie might make that a bit easier. we'll see though. and he even dances in this film! i swear that he has some sort of mental block that says "No. I absolutely refuse to do any sort of acting unless I get to do at least one short dance number." even when David and I saw him in Shakespeare in the Park last summer doing Anton Chekov's "The Seagull" he did a dance number. interesting fellow.