Movie · 2002 · Drama, Crime · 2h 21m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 8.4/10 (3.4M ratings)
The true story of a real fake.
Overview
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.4/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 4.05/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 75
TMDB: 8.0/10
Director
Steven Spielberg
Production
Kemp Company, Splendid Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes+MacDonald Production
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, James Brolin, Brian Howe, Frank John Hughes, Steve Eastin, Chris Ellis, John Finn, Jennifer Garner, Nancy Lenehan, Ellen Pompeo, Elizabeth Banks, Guy Thauvette, Candice Azzara, Matthew Kimbrough, Joshua Boyd
Where to watch
Hulu, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, highly watchable cat-and-mouse caper that turns a real-life con artist story into a breezy but melancholy character study. Spielberg keeps it playful and fast, while the performances give it warmth, wit, and a surprising emotional sting.
Best for
fans of stylish true-crime dramas
viewers who like charming antiheroes
people who enjoy FBI-vs-fugitive pursuits
audiences looking for a fun but bittersweet crime film
fans of polished, star-driven 2000s studio filmmaking
Skip if
you want a dark or gritty crime thriller
you dislike sympathetic criminals as protagonists
you prefer strict procedural realism
you want a heavy, morally severe true-story drama
Overview
Catch Me If You Can is one of Spielberg’s lightest films on the surface, but it’s doing more than just chasing a clever con man from one disguise to the next. The movie moves with real comic momentum, treating fraud like performance art and turning pursuit into a kind of flirtatious game between two lonely men on opposite sides of the law.
Worth noting
What makes it linger is the sadness underneath the charm. Frank’s talent for reinvention is also a defense mechanism, and the film quietly suggests that all the costumes and confidence are covering a kid who never learned how to stay put. Tom Hanks grounds the chase with patience and melancholy, giving the movie its emotional counterweight.
Bottom line
It’s polished, funny, and easy to enjoy, but it also has a wistful edge that keeps it from feeling disposable. The result is a crowd-pleaser with a little ache in it: a con movie that understands the cost of always running.
Top Letterboxd reviews
☆ sophie ☆ (4.5★) · 13987 likes
I like the part where they try to catch him
kat (4★) · 11474 likes
why does this movie's poster read like a gay romantic comedy between a twink and a dad finding love in a business financially driven world
editing this review after 8 years because i still get comments to this day: it had a different goddamn poster displayed when i reviewed. go look up the alternate posters and guess which one. my god
jeanie (3.5★) · 11465 likes
how I feel when I forge my mum's signature in my school planner
jilliana 🎨 (4★) · 9405 likes
for a minute there i thought he flushed himself in the plane toilet
maddie (4★) · 7527 likes
and to think at age sixteen i was posting pretty little liars fan theories on tumblr
2013 · Crime, Drama, Comedy · 3h · R · Curator 7.9/10 (5.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, AMC+, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Another charismatic fraud story that mixes exhilaration, excess, and the hollowing effect of living by performance.
1987 · Crime, Thriller, Drama · 1h 42m · R · Curator 8.3/10 (25.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A compact, cerebral con movie that keeps reconfiguring trust and identity.