Catch This Movie If You Can
Jan. 20th, 2003 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteHey kids! It's movie time today, and we happily hop in the time machine with Steven Spielberg and go back to the 1960s for Catch Me if You Can. While not as thought-provoking as Minority Report, this is an engaging film with great acting, a good re-creation of the past, and a tale that is just unbelievable enough that it has to be true and just believable enough that we don't care about the stretches in truth.
Some things that stood out:
- DiCaprio, his stock rising with me, gives a very good performance as a kid who becomes a con artist when he should be in high school. He looks 17, until his character needs to look 28. He trades on his charisma, as he fools and seduces and hones his skills, as he tries to turn his back on his troubled home and then on his criminal ways. It's not a brilliant performance, but points again towards a young man who will eventually transcend being a matinee idol to become a great actor, much as Johnny Depp has before him.
- The film belongs to Hanks, however, in his portrayal of a humorless FBI man dedicated to thwarting bank fraud. He endows this charisma-free crimefighter with a bit of depth and pathos, and gives the film a balance. We want to root for the lead because he's the star, but we know that can't root for the crook unless the man from the FBI is also worth rooting for. The relationship that develops between the crook and the Fed is intriguing, as is watching the two actors play off each other. Hanks is among my favorite actors and it's good to see him start playing supporting parts and characters a bit less likable than those that won him his Oscars.
- Kudos to Christopher Walken for bringing the right tone to the part of DiCaprio's father. Which leads me to ask again why such a skilled actor is in Kangaroo Jack?
- The cast includes two actresses of not to genre fans. Jennifer Garner is apparently among the women DiCaprio seduces. Can any Alias fans who've seen this identify who she is? Meanwhile, we see in a very small part Angel's Amy Acker - you'll know her because we heard that she is playing someone named Miggy Acker. So players of Six Degrees of Everyone can link Tom Hanks to the casts of two more shows, and if you still like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, don't forget that Hanks and Bacon were in Apollo 13.
- One of the keys plot points in the film revolves around DiCaprio using the pseudonym of Barry Allen, drawn from the Silver Age Flash. It's this fact that tips off Hanks to the youth of the unidentified suspect, as back then only kids read comics. Nowadays, the conclusion a cop might drawn would more likely be "this guy's a geek. Get a herd of cops to the line for the next super-hero film! We'll find our man there." Hanks' character doesn't know the name Barry Allen, but he does at least know who the Flash is. Wonder if as a kid, this character read the Golden Age Flash. I was imagining a scene in the comic book geek version where Hanks ponders what happened Jay Garrick, the Golden Age version, and why they changed the costume.
- Lastly, a tip of the hat to John Williams for a jazzier-than-usual score, well-suited to this film. His partnership with Spielberg continues to produce some great soundtracks.
Oh, and we saw a trailier for a film based on the Patrick O'Brian books starring Russell Crowe and directed by Peter Weir (The Truman Show). Never read the books, but the combination of actor and director could be good, and the change of pace of a sea epic might be welcome in the age of hi-tech action films.
Some things that stood out:
- DiCaprio, his stock rising with me, gives a very good performance as a kid who becomes a con artist when he should be in high school. He looks 17, until his character needs to look 28. He trades on his charisma, as he fools and seduces and hones his skills, as he tries to turn his back on his troubled home and then on his criminal ways. It's not a brilliant performance, but points again towards a young man who will eventually transcend being a matinee idol to become a great actor, much as Johnny Depp has before him.
- The film belongs to Hanks, however, in his portrayal of a humorless FBI man dedicated to thwarting bank fraud. He endows this charisma-free crimefighter with a bit of depth and pathos, and gives the film a balance. We want to root for the lead because he's the star, but we know that can't root for the crook unless the man from the FBI is also worth rooting for. The relationship that develops between the crook and the Fed is intriguing, as is watching the two actors play off each other. Hanks is among my favorite actors and it's good to see him start playing supporting parts and characters a bit less likable than those that won him his Oscars.
- Kudos to Christopher Walken for bringing the right tone to the part of DiCaprio's father. Which leads me to ask again why such a skilled actor is in Kangaroo Jack?
- The cast includes two actresses of not to genre fans. Jennifer Garner is apparently among the women DiCaprio seduces. Can any Alias fans who've seen this identify who she is? Meanwhile, we see in a very small part Angel's Amy Acker - you'll know her because we heard that she is playing someone named Miggy Acker. So players of Six Degrees of Everyone can link Tom Hanks to the casts of two more shows, and if you still like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, don't forget that Hanks and Bacon were in Apollo 13.
- One of the keys plot points in the film revolves around DiCaprio using the pseudonym of Barry Allen, drawn from the Silver Age Flash. It's this fact that tips off Hanks to the youth of the unidentified suspect, as back then only kids read comics. Nowadays, the conclusion a cop might drawn would more likely be "this guy's a geek. Get a herd of cops to the line for the next super-hero film! We'll find our man there." Hanks' character doesn't know the name Barry Allen, but he does at least know who the Flash is. Wonder if as a kid, this character read the Golden Age Flash. I was imagining a scene in the comic book geek version where Hanks ponders what happened Jay Garrick, the Golden Age version, and why they changed the costume.
- Lastly, a tip of the hat to John Williams for a jazzier-than-usual score, well-suited to this film. His partnership with Spielberg continues to produce some great soundtracks.
Oh, and we saw a trailier for a film based on the Patrick O'Brian books starring Russell Crowe and directed by Peter Weir (The Truman Show). Never read the books, but the combination of actor and director could be good, and the change of pace of a sea epic might be welcome in the age of hi-tech action films.
