Comprehensive information and links about Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 motion picture set in the 1960s. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and adapted by Jeff Nathanson loosely from the book by Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding.

The movie states that it was inspired by the true life story of Abagnale; the movie diverges somewhat from the real events as reported in Abagnale's book on his exploits.

It is also arguably Spielberg's most offbeat film. The film was a critical and commerical success and is known for John Williams' score and it's unique title sequence which was popular enough to be parodied on The Simpsons.

The film dramatizes the true story of a teenaged con man who stole over $2.5 million through forgery and other frauds, throughout a crime career lasting six years from 1963 to 1969. The film diverges from the protagonist's actual life story for dramatic effect. According to the movie, Frank's impersonations typically served to gain him temporary prestige, as an airline pilot, doctor, or lawyer, as well as aiding him in cashing forged checks. He was caught by the FBI in 1969, and he reduced his sentence by agreeing to assist FBI's bank fraud division by detecting forgeries and advising on countermeasures.

Frank William Abagnale Jr. is the son of Frank William Abagnale and Paula Abagnale. Paula Abagnale was born in Montrichard, France.

Awards

The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (John Williams) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Christopher Walken).

from IMDB.com: The concluding part of Spielberg's unofficial "running man" trilogy, which started with Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) and continued with Minority Report (2002).The picture was filmed in just 56 days in early 2002; at more than 140 locations around the United States (New York, Los Angeles) and Canada (Montreal, Quebec City).One of the locations that was used, was the old TWA Terminal 5 building at JFK International Airport in New York City. The building, designed by Eero Saarinen opened in 1962 and was an instant icon of architecture. It has been closed since TWA's demise in 2001; so it was indeed a coup for Spielberg and the crew to film in that building. In 2005, construction started behind the famed terminal to incorporate it with JetBlue's new Terminal. It is set to re-open in 2008. Film's reported budget - $52 million Est. Marketing Costs - $35 million Domestic Gross - $164 million Worldwide Gross - $351,112,395

Comparison with the book

Compared to the actual events described in Abagnale's book, on true events. The name of the protagonist and some of his exploits are the same as in real life, but the manner in which he achieved them has been changed.

One example of the changes in the movie include Abagnale's promiscuity. In the movie, Abagnale had one or two liaisons. In real life, Abagnale had numerous liaisons with dozens of women he encountered while in his false guises (airline pilot, doctor, etc.). Abagnale showed no remorse for his "love 'em and leave 'em" attitude towards most of these women, stating that they were promiscuous themselves and had, more or less, thrown themselves at him and weren't interested in long-term relationships anyway.

While posing as a doctor, Abagnale left the hospital voluntarily in the movie. In real life, he was scared into leaving after almost letting a baby die of oxygen deprivation (Abagnale had no idea what the nurse meant when she said there was a "blue baby"). Abagnale was able to fake his way through most of his duties before the final one, by letting the interns and nurses handle most of the cases that came in during his rather late night shift, such as setting broken bones and other such tasks. Many of his tasks were focused on the pediatric wing of the hospital (he had posed as a pediatrician), and most women coming in for delivery had their own physician on hand.

While posing as a doctor, in the novel Abagnale has a romantic liaison with a nurse who is older than he is. In the movie, the woman he approaches appears to be a younger woman, maybe even a candy striper rather than a nurse.

One of his exploits covered in the movie, forging checks in France, shows Abagnale running the checks off himself. In real life, he had the father of one of his girlfriends print the checks. The father owned a print shop, but had no idea that he was printing unauthorized documents. Abagnale had given him a sample (real) Pan Am paycheck and the man duplicated them, with different numbers, but otherwise identical to the original paycheck (Abagnale told him Pan Am was thinking of switching check printers and wanted a sample run). The "sample run" he provided Abagnale contained 10,000 checks. Unable to use so many checks, Abagnale kept a small portion and discarded the rest.

The movie also dramatizes the capture of Abagnale in France (outside the aforementioned print shop). The movie depicts this event with dozens of police and patrol cars appearing seemingly out of the ether and descending upon Abagnale. The French police are depicted as overexcited and intent on shooting Abagnale should he make the slightest attempt to resist; the FBI agent is on the spot to talk Abagnale into surrendering. Abagnale in real life was captured in a French airport by two uniformed police officers. Though he tried to con his way out of it, he was arrested with little excitement.

In the movie, Abagnale becomes bored with his 9-to-5 job after his release from prison and goes off on another exploit. There is no evidence of it in the book (the book ends as Abagnale evades capture by the FBI after being deported from Sweden back to the U.S.). It probably didn't happen at all, but is another invention of the movie makers. Abagnale did, however, escape both from the airplane that returned him to the United States and from the first prison he was kept in there.

The relationship between Abagnale and the FBI agent in the movie is never explored in the book. The book does discuss the main agent responsible for his case, but there was contact between the two before Abagnale's return to the United States after capture.

A 1965 Broadway comedy written by Willie Gilbert and Jack Weinstock, based on a French play by Robert Thomas, originally starring Tom Bosley and Dan Dailey. episode which aired on April 25, 2004. It details the Simpson children chasing their parents around the country, traveling from one major tourist city to another. It also parodies the title scene of the film released in 2002.