Story Of Frank Abagnale In Catch Me If You Can

Catch me if you can

Catch me if you can is a 2002 movie that is based on a true story directed by Steven Speilberg which showcases the story of Frank Abagnale, a well-known con artist who cashed millions of dollars in fraudulent checks and took on multiple different identities for years until he was captured by Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent. The movie showed in detail the various elaborate identities that Abagnale took on that included being a doctor, lawyer, and a Pan Am airline pilot. It showed how smoothly and effortlessly Abagnale slipped into each one of these identities or roles, if you will, throughout the entire film. One might wonder how Frank got away with all the illegal activities that he did for so long? In viewing the movie and taking the time period into consideration, one can see why Abagnale got away with all that he did for so long. His life has notoriously made its way into history and captured the interest of people. The movie uses many different rhetorical devices such as point of view, foreshadowing, irony, and the importance of title. The title “Catch me if you can” is important because it is a perfect example of foreshadowing. The title itself shows us that the movie is going to be a series of running away and failed attempts of capturing.

Frank Abagnale’s story begins in his adolescent years in the early 1960’s. Frank was the only son of his two parents. They lived happily in New York as a family until financial issues due to the Father not paying his taxes caused the family to have to downsize from their large, beautiful home to a small apartment. The relocation was hard on the family and had an effect on the parents’ marriage causing them to divorce. When asked which parent Frank would prefer to live with, he finds himself having a breakdown with his reality and decides to run away. He relies on his scamming skills and the checkbook that his Father gave him to survive in the world as a young teenager. Frank’s scams became more and more elaborate as time went on. His people skills, charm, and smarts enabled him to make his way across the United States and many other countries posing as different people and cashing fraudulent checks whenever he pleased.

The movie begins with a game show titled “To tell the truth” which sets the scene with a show within a show. We see Frank Abagnale introduced as “The most outrageous imposter” and “the youngest and most daring con man in history.” The choice of adjectives makes Abagnale seem like someone to be admired for his achievements and immediately positions him as a cheat in the “Game of life.” This makes the viewers look at him as a charming imposter and someone that they like.

From there the movie goes into showing Franks life with his parents. Their lives seem to be so seemingly perfect, it almost makes you envious of it. The parents romance is very obvious, and Frank admires them so much. Every teenager wants to have a family in which their parents’ get along perfectly. But this perfect reality does not last forever for the family. Eventually, they divorce due to financial issues. Young Frank then has to choose who he wants to live with which is an impossible task for a young child to have to do. How does one pick between their father and mother? Frank is driven to run away simply because he can not choose between the two. One might interpret this as an act of acting out in order to get his parents to get back together.

It is hard to not feel for this lonely, troubled, and brilliant child who through inventiveness and charisma manages to dupe a Pan Am airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and cash millions in fraudulent checks all before the age of 21. The daringness of his crimes makes him an admirable character. After all who wouldn’t want to live an adventure-packed life constantly outwitting the authorities at every turn?

The movie is really good as showing Frank’s charm as well as his Fathers. His father is also optimistic and diligent. Frank admired his Father a lot and learned a lot from his Father. One scene in particular that displayed Franks admiration for his father was the scene in which his Father was receiving an award from being in the army. You could see the pure delight in Frank’s eyes as he watched his Father receive this award and give a speech.

However, despite being a family man and being in the army, Franks father was quite the con man himself and taught Frank how to con. A scene in the movie that shows this is the scene in which Frank and his Father go to a store to rent a suit. The store is not open yet but that does not stop them from getting what they want. They yank on the gate that is outside of the store until they get the attention of the clerk who is a woman. They explain to her that they need a suit for a funeral that is happening that day even though there is no actual funeral. She turns them away explaining that the store is not open yet and even if it was open, they still do not rent out suits, suits are only available for purchase. This is when the Father holds up a beautiful necklace and charms his way into getting what he wants. This is a tactic that Frank goes on to use on several women to get his way, especially young, pretty women. He pairs holding the necklace with the phrase “Did you drop this in the car park? It must have slipped right off your neck.” The young woman is then flattered and attracted to who appears to be a successful, handsome man and does not take into consideration what she is actually doing which completes what Frank is trying to achieve. In America in the 1960’s, the clothes that you wore showed a lot about you, such as your statues, job, and how much money you had. For example, if you wore a suit, people would automatically assume that you were rich and of upper class. Frank used this tactic to his advantage along with his wit and charm.

The mother’s personality is also very deceptive and dishonest due to the fact that she has an affair and is cheats on her husband with another man in the family’s home. Aside from that, she displays a lot of nervousness in her role. When her son walks in on her having an affair, she is quick to offer him money to make the problem go away. This is a way of bribing him and making him think that she is not as bad of a person as she seems to be. From the outside she looks like the perfect housewife who dresses modestly, but there is more to her than what meets the eye. She was a gold digger and only wanted to be with men who were wealthy which could explain why she cheated on her husband when he lost his money with someone who had money.

The tone in the movie is both lighthearted, humorous, and witty as well as intense and accusatory. The settings and tone change rapidly playing with the audience’s emotions. The movie spends a lot of time focusing on the humor and carefree nature with which Frank leads his life despite the serious severity of his actions, which causes the portion of the movie in which Frank gets capture by the FBI to completely alter the tone of the movie. However, the abruptness of change of tone in the movie adds to the severity of the situation and causes the viewers to put themselves in the shoes of Frank. Being caught off-guard in the middle of something that seems to be going perfectly can really capture your interest and intensify what is happening in the movie by making it seem more life-like.

Visual cues provide emotional cues for the audience. The coloring of the movie is vintage looking which hints that the movie is not a modern movie but rather an old school movie. In the school scene where Frank poses as his substitute teacher for a week, when he is really only a student, it shows clashes of browns and bright colors in the school uniform and teenage styles of the day force a geeky sympathy with young Frank. In the scenes at Franks home, it shows blues and greys, depicting his home life as a slower pace which forces a feeling of seriousness to the dialogue. Scenes that involve Carl, blacks, grays, and whites, are used to encourage feelings of loneliness. Scenes that involve Frank traveling across the country use a variety of colors to show the vast difference between the previous scenes. These scenes use bright colors of blues, whites, and neon colors which makes the audience feel a sense of adventure. These colors trick the viewers into believing that stealing millions of dollars is somehow okay and justifiable. These scenes are meant to give a sense of innocence, as well as to be fun, playful, and remind us of our own childhood.

Aside from tone and color, settings also had a big role on affecting the characters in the movie. The early 1960’s is showcased in this film as a time of innocence. Perhaps this could be why Frank did not get caught for some time, people wanted to trust Frank and believe that there is nothing mischievous going on behind his smile.

The relationship between Frank and Carl is one that I personally admired throughout the movie. Carl is the FBI agent who is obsessed with catching Frank, he plays a likeable role. The producers did a good job of making the audience like him and the relationship between him and Frank. The interaction and relationship between the two men was great, it was interesting to see a budding relationship slowly build between the two characters who were positioned against one another. It is almost like a love-hate kind of relationship. Frank’s character at this point portrays a teenager perfectly. His impulse reactions to things are very immature and irresponsible.

However, Franks life changes drastically once he is captured by the FBI. He no longer has a sense of adventure and he realizes that there is more to life than just fun. After spending some time in prison, he is offered to work a job for the FBI under the authority of Carl. His job title is checking checks to see if they are fraudulent or not. He is given the opportunity to run away but chooses not to. This shows how he was maturing and realized that he cannot run away his whole life. All the carefree adventures finally come to an end and Frank becomes a responsible adult.

The film is a representation of what life and society was like in the 1960’s since it is based on a true story. People in that time period were easily impressed by materialistic things such as clothing. Women were very concerned with finding a husband which is why most of them were easily charmed and easily deceived by a young, handsome man. It does not reflect how society is now because people are not as gullible as they were then. This could explain why Frank Abagnale was able to get away with the illegal activities that he did for so long. Nowadays society now is filled with people who have a lot of skepticism and trust issues that are not as easily impressed which is why I do not think that someone could get away with this today.

References

1. “Frank Abagnale.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Oct. 2019, www.biography.com/personality/frank-abagnale.
2. Cunningham-Scharf, Sarah. “Catch Me If You Can Shows the Sad Side of Fraud.” Advisor, 10 Aug. 2018, www.advisor.ca/advisor-to-client/tax-advisor-to-client/catch-me-if-you-can-shows-the-emotional-side-of-fraud/.
3. Solon, Olivia. “Frank Abagnale on the Death of the Con Artist and the Rise of Cybercrime.” WIRED, WIRED UK, 4 Oct. 2017, www.wired.co.uk/article/frank-abagnale.