Catch Me if You Can * *

Catch Me if You Can follows 6 years in the life of teen con-man, Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo Di Caprio), as he successfully pulls off posing as a airline pilot, emergency room doctor, and lawyer, supported financially by his real profession as the biggest check frauder of the era. The story focuses mainly on the cat-and-mouse chase between him and the FBI agent (Tom Hanks). The story itself was ok, and the acting ok. I kind of believed Hanks as a nerdy FBI-agent, and I kind of believed Di Caprio as a emotionally-scarred but very charismatic and ballsy teen. But there is something wrong with the plot when a true edge-of-your-seat story doesn't get you on the edge of your seat. I never felt nervous wondering if he was going to pull of his latest caper and get away. I never felt sad by his life story. It was more like, 'oh, this is interesting'. The most interesting thing is that it is based on a true story. That in and of itself is incredible. Of course, the only reason I saw this was my continuing quest to watch Tom Hanks films that I have avoided, and to see how he has worked to change himself into a character actor. In this movie, he's hidden behind nerdy 1960s thick rims, so he doesn't exactly look like Tom Hanks. There were only one or two places I noticed where he used distinctive mannerisms from earlier films. But to be honest, his role didn't really call for much acting and he just did his job, nothing more. I didn't get the feeling that his character was a real person. Actually, Di Caprio's acting surprised me. At least 25% of the time, his character seemed real. That was much more than I expected. He pulled off the scenes with his 'Dad' quite well. I still hate his acting though.