For me, this is one of Leonardo DiCaprio's most natural performances. He is Frank Abagnale, a hugely intuitive seventeen year old youth with a boundless imagination and a criminal mind that might have made "Moriarty" blush. He quickly realises that most of society is based on the eggshell principle. We take things trustingly, on face value, and never explore what we don't think to ask. When we do, then the shell disintegrates and we discover a man who has convinced the most intelligent people that he can be a lawyer, a doctor, even an airline pilot and he is commanding salaries from each, even if that money is also the fruits of his meticulously creative labours! Eventually, tenacious FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) is on his trail. Instead of intimidating Abagnale, this cat and mouse game actually stimulates him and what now ensues are some entertainingly put together escapades that see DiCaprio clearly have some fun as he schmoozes, womanises and travels the world in style. Hanks doesn't actually feature so much until the conclusion, it's actually Christopher Walken who stands out more as the troubled father. Having lost just about everything to the IRS, it's down to junior to refloat his dad's boat - snd he's having s very good try! Amy Adans introduces the tiniest element of romance as Brenda, whose lawyer father (Martin Sheen) is also bamboozled by the sheer brass-neckery of this supreme con artist. Right from the Hitchcockian opening titles, we hit the ground running and Steven Spielberg paces this enjoyably, assisted by a sprightly score from John Williams. Were it not based on an true story, you'd have thought it an exquisite work of imaginative fiction. It is, and it's a really effective reflection of just what a man can get away with if he's got a nice smile and a sharp suit.
