December 6, 2002

It’s two – two – two movies in one…

I was fortunate to be able to see Catch Me If You Can twice last weekend because the first time was a bit of a shock.  Based on the great trailers and TV spots, I was expecting a big jazzy movie.  But Spielberg & Co. were after something more than that. 

Catch Me If You Can really tells two different stories.  First, there is the story of a family, happy on the surface, but broken slowly by outside forces.  This is a movie about a seventeen-year-old boy who really loves and idealizes his parents.  It is about a father who wants the world for his son and is willing to break a few rules to make it happen.  And it is about an immigrant wife and mother whose journey to the magical land of America has left her head a little in the clouds and willing to do whatever she needs to do in order to keep her dream life real.

From this comes the other movie… the movie about a young man who finds that making new rules works for him a lot better than staying on the straight and narrow.  His genuine sweetness is what makes him unstoppable.  He is a boy playing in a man’s world more effectively than the men around him. 

That’s how he meets Carl Hanratty, FBI agent.  Tom Hank’s Hanratty chases and Frank Abagnale, Jr., the real life character that Leoonrdo DiCaprio plays, runs.  That’s the jazzy part that you’ve seen in the commercials.  But the movie is very much about the familial needs of Frank, Jr. and that’s why it is more than just a fun commercial movie.

The reality is that Catch Me If You Can is a little uneven.  It seems to be aiming at an emotional triangle with DiCaprio at the apex and “fathers” Hanks and Christopher Walken vying for his soul.  But that structure never quite works.  Both Hanks and Walken give near-perfect performances.  Both could be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, with Walken the shoo-in and Hanks the always-good performer who Oscar loves and who could be swept in on a big Catch wave.  Nonetheless, their interactions with Leo/Frank, Jr. are consistently individual and uncoordinated as a thematic effort.

And, as with other Steven Spielberg movies, Catch suffers a bit from too many good ideas.  There are two opening sequences in Catch and there is really no reason for this.  Both are well made.  Both are compelling.  But one is pretty much gilding the lily, while the other builds the structure of the storytelling to come.  You hate to lose good stuff, but sometimes it’s better to do so.  (The back credits would be a fun place for the recreated TV sequence.)

That said, Catch Me If You Can is a surefire hit and a likely contender for across-the-board Oscar nominations because DiCaprio and Hanks and Walken keep you in the movie from the first frames to the last. 

It’s funny.  One studio is pushing a potential Oscar movie on the basis that it speaks to the current moral status of the country.  But Catch Me If You Can does that film one better.  It is really lovely to see a family that really seems to love one another… a young man who really loves his parents… and a step away from the moral that is motivated by idealized needs and not just greed and rage. 

The opening credits are kind of Saul Bass meets Warhol’s advertising work.  The score by John Williams is uncharacteristically jazzy.  The effects work in recreating the 60s is remarkable.  Perhaps the most difficult shot is a pan down of the Pan Am building, which is no longer the Pan Am building, to a Park Avenue full of cars, a sidewalk fill of people convincingly of the era and a Leo in a phone booth. 

The film reminded me of some of the cop flicks of the early 70s… movies like No Way To Treat A Lady.  If they made this film in its real time, it surely would have starred George Segal as the frustrated FBI agent, Redford as the kid and Sterling Hayden as Abagnale, Sr.  (Don’t do the math.) Maybe Sidney Lumet would have directed. 

This version has perhaps Christopher Walken’s best non-psycho role ever.  Frank Sr. is a very complex character who comes to life in very brief glimpses throughout the film.  And Walken is funny and charming and mysterious and smart and no one should be surprised if he takes home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the Kodak Theater in March. 

Overall, I really liked Catch Me If You Can.  But I can’t say that I was overwhelmed, specifically because of the pacing issues and because the triangle never really forms.  The performances are sterling.  But the pace of the film keeps shifting.  There is more than enough here for audiences looking for a good, solid movie going experience this season.  My guess is that it will gross over $150 million domestic.  And when it moves from the big screen to small screens via DVD/Video, it will be one of those movies that people watch over and over and over again.

ADDED THOUGHT:  After seeing the film the first time, I came home and popped my screening of Minority Report in my DVD player.  It’s a film I liked back in the summer and I noticed some overhead shots that seemed reminiscent of Spielberg’s work in the sci-fi flick.  And then it hit me… what an amazing year Steven Spielberg has had.  Unlike Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich/Traffic year, Spielberg’s films are not overtly edgy and so, critics won’t give him his due credit. 

But I contend that if Minority Report were a holiday release, it would be THE movie to beat for Best Picture, anti sci-fi “rules” and all.  Spielberg’s work in that film is just spectacular.  And while the very end of the film does fall apart, it is a journey that should not be underestimated.  Likewise, were Catch to be released in the summer, it would be a solid, feel-good hit. 

But here’s the twist that might actually happen…  I’m beginning to think that Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski could get nominated for Best Director And Best Cinematographer for Minority Report while Catch Me If You Can gets a half-dozen other nominations from the other branches.  With due respect to Catch, this team’s earlier work this year is on a whole other level. 

DISPOSIBLE BONDING:  I missed a story right under my nose a few weeks ago and figured that I’d tell you anyway.  Arriving in the mail one day was a press DVD from MGM/UA for Die Another Day.  It clearly says on it that it will self-destruct some time after you unseal the package.  But I thought that was just a spy joke.

Turns out that there is a company called Flexplay pushing the idea of DVDs that self-destruct after a few plays…. meaning no returns to your local video store.  Interesting.

What reminded me to go here again was Roger Ebert’s Answer Man column from last week. That led me to the Flexplay site and back to MGM/UA.

Easy come, easy go…

WEKEEND PREVIEW:  Zzzzzz… one major opening.

On the other hand, Analyze That made me laugh more often and more deeply than the original.  Both the first film and this one run out of steam in the second act and limp to their conclusions.  But the new idea of this one, Paul Vitti moves in with the therapist and his wife and his newly gigantic teenager, works like a charm.  If only they had some idea of how to end the movie.

Also, Angelenos and New Yorkers will have their first public shot at seeing Adaptation… be swift and go back again to try to figure it out.  Next week, I’ll do a spoiler-laden look at what is really going on in the film.  Until then…

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. Analyze That  - 2635 venues – new - $ million
2. HP & Chamber of Secrets – 3387 venues – off 42 percent - $18.6 million
3. Die Another Day – 3347 venues – off 51 percent - $15.2 million
4. The Santa Clause 2 – 2356 venues – off 43 percent - $6.9 million
5. Treasure Planet – 3227 venues – off 52 percent - $5.8 million
6. Eight Crazy Nights – 2503 venues – off 61 percent - $3.7 million
7. Solaris – 2406 venues – off 48 percent - $3.5 million
8. Friday After Next – 1450 venues – off 58 percent - $3.09 million
9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding – 1257 venues – off 23 percent - $3.07 million
10. The Ring – 1642 venues – off 44 percent - $2.9 million

READER OF THE DAY:  AND IT GOES LIKE THIS writes:  “In your column Thursday, THE PORTUGUESE ROCK wonders why some foreign movies are listed by the NBR with their original titles (namely "Y Tu Mamá Tambien" and "El Crime del Padre Amaro") and others are translated into English ("Talk to Her", "8 Women", "City of God"). Well, tell my fellow Brazilian that the NBR is actually using the names under which such films are exhibited in the U.S. Ever since "Amores Perros" (which was briefly announced as "Love is a Bitch", but then switched to the original title), high-profile Mexican movies are shown in the U.S. with their original, Spanish-language tiltes. I don't know why this happens, but it's probably due to the fact that the primary audience for these movies is the huge Latino population in the U.S. (and stuff like Almodóvar may be seen as "European", not Latin - that's why his movie's titles are translated).

FIBS writes:  “What's this horsehockey I'm reading in Liz Smith's column that there's "Oscar talk" for the ensemble cast of The 25th Hour.  Huh?  Granted I'm at a point that I tend to glaze over most print columnists ruminations over who they think should get Academy recognition, but I don't think I've seen Word One about this movie. 

Interestingly, her Post compadre, Neil Travis, has also been known to be pitching for Oscar longshots.  Now it seems to me that you and your ilk (i.e. columnists who seem to really know and care about the industry) don't take them seriously. Do any Academy voters????  (I wanted to say ask about "anyone in the Industry," but after Adaptation, I don't want to say "the Industry!")”

And this from REST IN PIERCE:  “Caught "Far From Heaven" this weekend.  I went back to read your review and noticed that you said you would get into it more later.  I'm still waiting, because I've been really interested how this film has been reviewed by the mainstream critics.

To build off your last comments, I think Haynes is frying bigger fish than Sirk did in the 50's.

I've only seen "All That Heaven Allows", but it seemed like Haynes does a much better job of portraying why Julianne Moore falls for Dennis Haysbert than Sirk did with his 'gardener relationship'.

I have never been a fan of Haynes except for "Safe", and I particularly loathed "Velvet Goldmine".  I was pleasantly surprised to see the restraint that he used in presenting the complicated issues in this film set in what seemed to be the perfect context.

Julianne Moore has raised the bar yet again, and I hope that Dennis Haysbert can get some recognition for his part that hasn't built much steam in the press.  It would be nice to see him break out of his '24' success and start becoming more of a fixture in truly important films.”

E ME:  I do need to get back to an in depth look at Far From Heaven… but in the meanwhile, the weekend is here… in what will you indulge?