Catch Me If You Can

If this story even tickles your funny bone, you’re bound to enjoy the film “Catch Me If You Can” by Steven Spielberg. Just like the autobiography of Frank Abagnale Jr, who impersonate others seamlessly in the 1960s, making my stunts appear to be child’s play. The memoir overflows with riveting tales of his life. The description of what life was like during that time makes the film entertaining and captivating.

At the podium, students were required to take turns whispering their names to an announcer, who would them into a microphone. From the usual practice, I recall being called “Glenn Kaiser”, thanks to a Chicago based hard rock gospel band that I was into during that time.

After three days of rehearsing, however, I decided that it would be quite interesting to be a part of a graduation ceremony.

I knew that if I needed to attend one, I would be required to wear a gown and a cap, and that was not difficult to find. I went to the appropriate teacher and said that I had misplaced my cap and gown, which was not a complete lie. The teacher suspected that I was on a blacklist because I owed some unpaid library fees, but, nevertheless, he went to the school office and inquired for my name. It was pretty obvious that a Steven Gueydan’s was absent from the blacklist. Therefore, he handed me a dress, explaining that it was on condition that I produced a wearing dress that was useful.

As I strolled off the stage following the shaking of hands with the superintendent, I could hear the crowd whispering to each other with mystified looks on their faces, “Who’s that?” A moment later, an empty diploma cover was handed to me (the actual diploma was saved to be handed when I returned the cap and gown) and I could see thousands of parents watching me, my walk across the stage marked the conclusion of my graduation.

Funny enough, there was only one person in the junior class who recognized Glenn Kaiser, an usher or a junior, and after knowing that there was no such student in the senior class, he in shock watched me stroll across the podium. Together, we have been married for five years.

I understand that you want to avoid spoiler alerts, which might ruin the discovery aspect of the movie, however, all I will say is that Frances a con artist goes through various scams starting from the age of 16 unto 21. Based on the con he pulls, he is able to achieve a social status, travel, attain financial resources, as well as appeal to women which is strange for someone his age.

Having said that, he lies, steals, and seduces women as a form of bluffed for a great part of his life. He gets caught up in such large scales which ends up targeting him as a criminal put under watch by an FBI agent by the name Carl Hanratty. Despite emulating such dangerous acts and breaking the law so many times, the movie has underlying themes that reflect humanity and compassion towards an individual.

The movie manages to portray compassion in creating a fictional background for Frances, conjuring a surreal connection between Frank and Carl, and later showcasing that he eventually gets what is coming to him and has to go through the consequences of his actions.

Above all, it can be concluded that for Frank, family is a flimsy construct. His hero is his dishonorable father who is played by Christopher Walken and is anguished when he finds out that Nathalie Baye, who plays his mother is cheating on his father. When she decides to sue his father for divorce, Frank is emotionally shattered and is unable to cope with it and thus decides to flee from home. Initially, he spends time at motels and does hotel hopping until he runs out of money, and a manager throws him out during the night. He argues by asking “Where am I supposed to go?” to which the answer he gets is “You are child go back home” However the case is that his home has already been destroyed which he denies for so long.

By the way, from this point of view, one can think of a Spielberg film in which the mother by contrast abandons the son, while in most of his work it is reported that fathers abandon them leaving their mothers to carry the family. In this case it is the mother who decides to disband the family which is something Frank cannot handle.

Supporting his argument, Frank explains that those fraudulent activities he is accused of may eventually justify his parent’s reunion. It’s interesting to note that there is a concrete moment in the film when this dream dies and at that moment, Frank has no interest in his scams anymore and wishes to leave the crime scene and get married instead (although the movie gets in the way of helping him do so).

That family tragedy of all the lost childhood sentiments stems from the family life that is brought best by the very last scenes of the movie I remember how deeply Spielberg affected us with this sense of family tragedy and childhood angst in E.T.; it goes along as a sub-theme in the upbeat story line of the movie which Nastassja Kinski provided in the screenplay.

While Frank attempts to maintain a dialogue with his father, the person who accepts his nature is Agent Hanratty. Hanratty, played by Hanks, is totally devoid of comic relief, although he becomes quite eccentric in his obsession with chasing Frank. Their first encounter is a real eye-opener, and the ensuing antics of this cat-and-rat chase form a significant part of the satisfaction one draws from the movie.

Here, Frank loses control of his emotions, he swears to take revenge, and most importantly, he contacts Hanratty and threatens him. On the phone, he first tries to provoke Hanratty for working on Christmas, but Hanratty does not seem to fall into such petty games. As he later explains, “You didn’t have anyone else to call!” Hanratty then makes several attempts to support the younger man in his attempts to turn his life around.

In this instance, the character’s ineffectuality and comic relief is Avengers: Civil War, with Hanks being significantly funnier than he has in over a decade. DiCaprio, at the same time, plays the part of a young man who pretends to be a lawyer for several older professional men well; someone who, with a few probing questions, wouldn’t feel awkward exposing the lie. And then again, while he is too much of a cad to copulate under false pretenses with women he hardly knows, he is idealistic enough, but only goes as far as saying so, to propose marriage to one of them, purely out of idealistic thought while being clueless about the practical difficulties.

For Spielberg, as for DiCaprio and Hanks, this project is low stakes, it is an opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves. Unsurprisingly, it is as much fun for the audience as it is for the filmmakers. Boomers are bound to enjoy the movie’s careful attention to period details. And while in essence the movie can be thought of as an ode to a swindler’s vocation, it commemorates his cleverness and charisma, not his wrongdoings, and ultimately has an end that is pleasing and restorative.

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