Apparently this film is getting amazing reviews! At rottentomatoes.com, 45 thumbs up so far to ZERO thumbs down. It looks amazing. I doubt it’ll get great numbers on Christmas, but I think Leo may have found his after-Titanic hit and Spielburg churns out another good movie.
Anyone going to see it the day after Christmas… or even ON Christmas?
The previews look good as a movie with some grown up themes that a kid can enjoy on a different level.
Saw a sneak preview a week or so ago. It is really good.
Saw a preview on Monday. I didn’t know anything about it beforehand, so I hand no expectations. It’s a great movie.
Besides Hanks and Leo, it’s great to see Christopher Walken get a chance to play real person rather than psychos he plays so well.
My plan during my week off right now is to see: Catch Me if You Can, Gangs of New York, and to see The Two Towers for a second time.
Well, I saw the movie today. It was okay. Not great, not horrible. I actually thought some of it was rather slow.
Just got back from seeing it. It’s a great big, fun movie with a good cast (I am terribly shocked not to have anything like “except Leo” to put after that), wonderful cinematography, a superb score, and not too many surprises.
7 out of 10. (Anyone but Spielberg would’ve gotten an 8, probably. When you’re a genius, the curve works against you.)
I haven’t seen it yet, but I will. On a side note, I read the book because it was suggested in a thread long ago about a book club right here on the Straight Dope Message Board.
I was somewhat disappointed. It was an okay movie; but the real story of Frank Abagnale is so incredible it’s a tough job (even for Spielberg) to make it into a cinematic triumph. I give it a 6 out of 10.
My favorite scene was the money exchange with the prostitute.
I plan on seeing the movie this week-end. I read the book many years ago.
But hey: I actually met Frank a couple of times. He’s put on seminars for my company, and I went to others he’s given. Nice guy to talk too. I can understand why someone would take a check from him. Great personallity.
I didn’t find the movie slow at all, I enjoyed the fact that the story was also about Frank the anguished teenaged son, rather than focusing only on his unbelievably bold and clever capers.
I don’t see how they could have put all of Frank’s cons into the movie. I am sure that many people, like me, will see the movie and immediately run out and buy the book, and appreciate his true story in written form.
I am about the same age as Frank, just a few years younger, and I remember reading about his exploits at the time he was operating. Quite a guy.
I saw it yesterday with Mrs. KVS. I thought it was great. The shots of NY (the Pan Am building) were really nice.
Saw it opening night with my dad and brother. I liked it quite a lot. My dad had a fairly asinine grumble about it.
He thought the filmmakers “dumbed it down” by showing how Frank got caught. “We already knew he got caught so why show it to us?” We attempted to ignore him. I find it nearly impossible to beleive that someone could study for two weeks and pass the Louisiana bar. I thought the scene with Jennifer Garner could have been cut entirely and we never would have missed it. Someone who’s read the book, is there some special significance to this encounter beyond what was shown?
I spotted three gaffes and submitted then to IMDB, who actually finally added one of my goofs to their database a couple weeks ago. Nothing major did I spot, stuff like hands jumping positions between shots and the like, still, I bet I’m first out of the gate on them.
That is an asinine grumble ;).
I’m probably going to see it when I get back to Atlanta. Of course the Two Towers must be seen (I’m holding off until break ends, so I can see it with my friends… yes, I have amazing willpower ;)).
In the scene where Leo is watching “Dr. Kildare”…is that a videotape in the bottom of the shot…or just a book? The person I was with wondered about that, too, but we just couldn’t believe that Speilberg would make that kind of mistake.
Saw this movie last night. It was OK, I guess. Nothing great. It was actually kind of boring. I kept waiting for the con-game and/or chase to REALLY begin…and it never did. Towards the end I was looking at my watch…
Hey! Wake up, folks! Let’s call him what he REALLY is! The man’s a conartist, and nothing more! I see he’s still conning people, isn’t he? He’s made himself into some kind of hero. He has mastered the ability to create the illusion you want to see instead of seeing the real him. The word “chameleon” comes to mind… - Jinx
I’d give the guy a break because he was so young when he committed fraud. He did serve some time and seems to have turned his life around. See his own statements at http://www.abagnale.com/facomments.html
I found the movie entertaining.
I saw the movie tonight and I thought it was very entertaining. Leo gives one of his better performances and it’s nice to see Spielberg returning to some lighter material. If I didn’t know that it was based on a true story, though, I would have thought it was completely unbelievable
I went to see it tonight.
I don’t recall ever slapping my knee at a movie before – I thought that was a cliche. Many genuinely funny moments.
I loved the whole movie-- from the Hitchcockian credits on in. John Williams’ score was perfect, as usual. I might give the book a shot – hopefully it will be harder to spot the invented parts, since Abagnale apparently is better at eliciting an unwilling suspension of disbelief than Spielberg (or heretofore-shite screenwriter Jeff Nathanson) can expect to manage.
Coupla groaners:
[spoiler]Soaking the toy airplanes in the tub to obtain the Pan-Am decals. Made for a good visual gag, but it’s just silly. In the book, did he say he got the decals from unassembled model kits (or just decal sheets from a hobby shop,) or what?
And his escape from the airplane bathroom. Riiight. Made for good symbolism, as a sort of a rebirthing, but it really shattered my happy credulity.[/spoiler]
I hope that Christopher Walken gets some recognition from the Academy® for his performance. Fantastic! He made something as intangible as pride palpable. Plain-vanilla pride, injured pride, paternal pride-- 57 varieties of pride, and none of them telegraphed. I believed him 100%
And the further that Titanic slips beneath the waves of my memory, the more I admire Leonardo DiCaprio.