Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams and James Brolin in supporting roles. The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson is based on the semi-autobiographical book by Frank Abagnale Jr., who claims that prior to his 19th birthday, he successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. However, the truth of his story has since been heavily disputed.
A movie version of Abagnale's book was contemplated soon after it was published in 1980 but began in earnest in 1997 when Spielberg's DreamWorks bought the film rights. David Fincher, Gore Verbinski, Lasse Hallström, Miloš Forman and Cameron Crowe were all considered to direct the film before Spielberg decided to direct it himself. Filming took place from February to May 2002.
The film opened on December 25, 2002, to major critical and commercial success, grossing $352 million worldwide. At the 75th Academy Awards, Christopher Walken and John Williams were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Score, respectively.
Plot
In 1969, FBI agent Carl Hanratty arrives in Marseille, France, to pick up prisoner Frank Abagnale Jr., who has fallen ill due to the prison's poor conditions.
In a flashback, Frank is living in New Rochelle, New York, with his father, Frank Sr., and his French mother, Paula, in 1963. During his youth, he witnesses his father's many techniques for conning people, but Frank Sr.'s tax problems with the IRS eventually force the family to move from their house and into a small apartment.
One day, Frank discovers his mother is having an affair with Jack Barnes, his father's friend from the New Rochelle Rotary Club. When his parents divorce, Frank runs away. Needing money, he turns to confidence scams to survive and his cons progressively grows bolder. He poses as a Pan Am pilot named Frank Taylor and forges payroll checks from Pan Am. Soon, his forgeries are worth millions of dollars.
News of the crimes reaches the FBI and Carl begins tracking Frank. He finds him at a motel, but Frank tricks Carl into believing he is a Secret Service agent named Barry Allen. He escapes before Carl realizes the deception.
Adopting a new identity as Dr. Frank Conners, Frank falls in love with Brenda, a naive young hospital nurse, and asks her attorney father for both her hand in marriage and help with arrangements to take the Louisiana State Bar exam, which Frank passes. Carl tracks Frank to his and Brenda's engagement party, but Frank escapes through a bedroom window, telling Brenda to meet him at Miami International Airport two days later.
At the airport, Frank spots Brenda but also plainclothes agents. He realizes she has been followed and drives away. Reassuming his pilot identity, he stages a recruiting drive for stewardesses at a local college. Surrounded by eight young women dressed as stewardesses, which distracts the agents at the airport, Frank escapes on a flight to Madrid.
In 1967, Carl tracks Frank down in his mother's hometown of Montrichard, France, and convinces him to surrender to the French police. Frank is arrested and taken into custody there, but Carl assures him he will be extradited to the U.S.
In 1969, Carl accompanies Frank on a flight to the U.S. As they approach, Carl informs Frank that his father has died. Grief-stricken, Frank escapes from the plane through a toilet and reaches the house of his mother, who is now married to Barnes and is living with him and their young daughter. Heartbroken by his mother having a new family, Frank surrenders to Carl and a judge sentences him to 12 years in a maximum-security prison.
Carl visits Frank in prison; he shows him a fraudulent check from a case he is investigating. Frank immediately deduces that a bank teller was involved in the fraud. Impressed, Carl convinces the FBI to allow Frank to serve the remainder of his sentence working for the FBI Financial Crimes Unit. Frank agrees, but soon grows restless doing the tedious office work.
One weekend, Frank prepares to impersonate a pilot again but is intercepted by Carl, who says he is willing to let him continue with his con, assuring Frank that no one is chasing him and that it is his choice. Frank returns to work the following week. As they discuss another fraudulent check, Carl asks him how he cheated on the Louisiana State Bar exam, and Frank tells him he did not cheat, but studied for two weeks and passed it. Carl smiles and asks Frank if he is telling the truth, but Frank does not answer, instead giving Carl input on the check.
The closing titles state that (as of 1991) Frank has now been married for 26 years, has three sons and is living in the Midwestern United States, and that he has remained friends with Carl and has made a living as a leading expert on bank fraud and forgery.
Cast
The real Frank Abagnale appears in a cameo appearance as a French police officer arresting his onscreen counterpart.
Production Development Frank Abagnale sold the film rights to his autobiography in 1980. According to Abagnale, producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin purchased the film rights after seeing him on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Two years later, they sold the rights to Columbia Pictures, who, in turn, sold the rights to producer Hall Bartlett. Bartlett and business partner Michael J. Lasky hired Steven Kunes to write the screenplay, but Bartlett died before the project found a distributor. The rights were then sold to Hollywood Pictures, a division of Disney, and when the project went into turnaround, the rights were again sold to Bungalow 78 Productions, a division of TriStar Pictures. From there, the project was presented to Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks Pictures.
According to Daily Variety, executive producer Michel Shane purchased the film rights in 1990 for Paramount Pictures. By December 1997, Barry Kemp purchased the film rights from Shane, bringing the project to DreamWorks, with Jeff Nathanson writing the script. By April 2000, David Fincher was attached to direct over the course of a few months, but dropped out in favor of Panic Room. In July 2000, Leonardo DiCaprio had entered discussions to star, with Gore Verbinski to direct. Spielberg signed on as producer, and filming was set to begin in March 2001.
Casting Verbinski cast James Gandolfini as Carl Hanratty, Ed Harris as Frank Abagnale Sr. and Chloë Sevigny as Brenda Strong. Verbinski dropped out because of DiCaprio's commitment to Gangs of New York. Lasse Hallström was in negotiations to direct by May 2001, but dropped out in July 2001. At this stage, Harris and Sevigny left the film, but DiCaprio and Gandolfini were still attached. Spielberg, co-founder of DreamWorks, offered the job of director to Miloš Forman, and considered hiring Cameron Crowe. During this negotiation period, Spielberg began to consider directing the film himself, eventually dropping projects such as Big Fish and Memoirs of a Geisha. Spielberg officially committed to directing in August 2001. That same month, Tom Hanks was cast to replace Gandolfini, who had exited due to scheduling conflicts with The Sopranos.
The search for Sevigny's replacement as Brenda Strong lasted months, but Amy Adams was eventually cast. Spielberg "loved" her tape, and producer Walter F. Parkes commented that she was "as fresh and honest as anyone we'd seen", which was an important element in the role. Christopher Walken was cast as Frank Abagnale Sr. following Parkes's suggestion. Martin Sheen played Roger Strong, as he had "intimidating presence". Spielberg wanted a French actress to portray Paula Abagnale to stay true to the facts. He asked for the help of Brian De Palma, who was living in Paris, and he did tests with several actresses such as Nathalie Baye. Spielberg had seen Jennifer Garner on Alias and offered her a small role in the film.
Filming Filming was scheduled to begin in January 2002 but was pushed to February 7 in Los Angeles, California. Locations included Burbank, Downey, New York City, Ontario International Airport (which doubled for Miami International Airport), Quebec City and Montreal.
The film was shot in 147 locations in only 52 days. DiCaprio reflected, "Scenes that we thought would take three days took an afternoon." Filming ran from April 25–30 on Park Avenue, just outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Production moved to Orange, New Jersey, and returned to Brooklyn for bank and courthouse scenes. Shooting also took place at the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Quebec City was chosen for its atmosphere. Place Royale, within Old Quebec, stands in for Montrichard, and the church in the background of the arrest scene is Notre-Dame-des-Victoires.
Filming ended on May 12 in Montreal.
Soundtrack
The original score was composed and conducted by John Williams. The film's soundtrack was released on December 10, 2002, by DreamWorks Records. +Catch Me If You Can: Music from the Motion PictureNo.TitleMusicPerformer(s)Length1."Catch Me If You Can"2:412."The Float"4:563."Come Fly with Me"Frank Sinatra3:194."Recollections (The Father's Theme)"Soloists: Alan Estes, vibraphone; Dan Higgins, saxophone5:165."The Airport Scene"2:266."The Girl from Ipanema"Stan Getz and João Gilberto featuring Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim5:157."Learning the Ropes"8:448."Father and Son"Soloists: Alan Estes, vibraphone; Dan Higgins, saxophone3:159."Embraceable You"Judy Garland and Victor Young and His Orchestra2:5010."The Flash Comics Clue"1:4711."Deadheading"2:2512."The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)"Nat King Cole3:1013."A Broken Home"4:2514."Un Poco Adagio"Haydn Concerto for Piano and Strings, No 11 in D-Major by Franz Joseph Haydn3:1215."The Look of Love"Dusty Springfield3:3116."Catch Me If You Can (Reprise and End Credits)"5:14Total length:62:26
Historical accuracy Abagnale had little involvement with the film, but believed Spielberg was the only filmmaker who "could do this film justice", despite various changes from purportedly real events. In November 2001, Abagnale said: I am not a consultant on the film. I've never met or spoken to Steven Spielberg and I have not read the script. I prefer not to. I understand that they now portray my father in a better light, as he really was. Steven Spielberg has told the screenplay writer (Jeff Nathanson) that he wants complete accuracy in the relationships and actual scams that I perpetrated. I hope in the end the movie will be entertaining, exciting, funny and bring home an important message about family, childhood and divorce. Abagnale said he never saw his father again after he ran away from home, but Spielberg "wanted to continue to have that connection where Frank kept trying to please his father; by making him proud of him; by seeing him in the uniform, the Pan-American uniform".
In a 2017 presentation for "Talks at Google", Abagnale commented on the accuracy of the film: