GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Catch Me If You Can
DreamWorks Distribution LLC

Catch Me If You Can reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 76 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.5 out of 10
based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 64 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Garner, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen, Frank John Hughes, and Brian Howe

Frank W. Abagnale (DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer and as a co-pilot for a major airline -- all before his 21st birthday. A master of deception, he was also a brilliant forger, whose skill at check fraud had netted him millions of dollars in stolen funds. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Hanks) has made it his prime mission to capture Frank and bring him to justice, but Frank is always one step ahead of him, baiting him to continue the chase. (DreamWorks)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Nathanson
Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding (book Catch Me If You Can)
 
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: May 6, 2003 
Video: May 6, 2003 
Theatrical: December 25, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 140 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Part of Spielberg's skill as a filmmaker comes in choosing the right collaborators. Janusz Kaminski's gorgeous cinematography, Michael Kahn's graceful editing, Jeff Nathanson's clever script, and John Williams' score all work well in unison, but the film's masterstroke is the casting of Walken as DiCaprio's utterly decent father.
Read Full Review
100
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
It's brilliantly acted. But best of all, it's brilliantly made.
Read Full Review
91
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's the most charming and buoyant film Spielberg's ever made.
Read Full Review
90
The New York Times Stephen Holden
Supremely entertaining.
Read Full Review
90
Time Richard Schickel
Results in about the nicest movie you could ask for at the holidays: a gently funny, sweetly adventurous film that makes you feel genuinely good, that is to say, entirely unconned by false sentiment or sharp, overmanipulative Hollywood practices.
Read Full Review
90
Newsweek David Ansen
Never less than engaging; all that’s missing is a proper crescendo. The picture moves along briskly, even at two and a half hours, but it seems to be running on cruise control.
Read Full Review
89
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Everything about this swift and gorgeous and tremendously enjoyable film is played out in a rush of staccato edits, crisp performances, and charmingly giddy subplots that coalesce into Spielberg's most purely entertaining movie in years.
Read Full Review
88
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Nothing if not a celebration of our willingness to be gulled by life's charming strangers.
Read Full Review
80
Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
Breezy and easy to swallow. Its maker, Steven Spielberg, hasn't had so much fun in two decades.
Read Full Review
80
The New Yorker David Denby
Spielberg must have sensed that he owed us some fun, and the movie has a sleek and carefree look -- the lightness of a sixties comedy, made with the extraordinary speed and panache of our most fluent director. This is a true holiday film, a gift from some genuine pros who know how to entertain without sweat. [23 & 30 December 2002, p. 166]
80
Variety Todd McCarthy
Like a trot around the track for the thoroughbreds involved, and one of the results is that it takes them far too long to get to the finish line.
Read Full Review
80
LA Weekly John Powers
As an actor DiCaprio has long been known for his ardor, not to mention his tiresome self-seriousness, but working for Spielberg, he plays his scenes with a comic deftness I thought he didn't have in him.
Read Full Review
80
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Based on the real-life exploits of Frank W. Abagnale but played more for myth than believability.
Read Full Review
80
The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
Spielberg directs so fluently that it takes a while to perceive how well made the film is.
Read Full Review
80
Slate David Edelstein
Feels more like The Bill Clinton Story than "Primary Colors" (1998). It's a paean to naughty boys who dream of potency and become enraptured by their own scams -- a great American archetype.
Read Full Review
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
DiCaprio could hardly be better. He brings this outrageous character and his demons to life with skill, sympathy and a symphony of small, telling touches.
Read Full Review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The movie could have used a further dose of the resonance Walken gives it, and a more intellectually adventurous director might have brought the theme close to home.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Brilliant performances by DiCaprio as Frank Jr. and Christopher Walken as his fallen father - and an enjoyable one by Tom Hanks.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The film's charm ends up worn out by the very perfection of Frank's con. We look at this teen wizard of rotating identity, and we realize we know everything about him except who he is.
Read Full Review
75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Even in its somewhat unwieldy form, Catch Me If You Can is charming, sparkling entertainment.
Read Full Review
75
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
What lingers in the memory is the impression of having experienced a frolic, a ride through the park on a bright winter day.
Read Full Review
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
In the end (and it's a happy end, to be sure), Catch Me if You Can is as crisp and trim as a new suit. Well, a new old suit - say, circa the 1960s.
Read Full Review
75
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A pleasant romp through the land of Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Spielberg's directing is a tad less tricky than usual, but he doesn't have much talent for psychological suspense, which is the heart of the story. DiCaprio underplays nicely and Walken is superb as the con artist's downtrodden dad.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This is not a major Spielberg film, although it is an effortlessly watchable one.
Read Full Review
75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
An enjoyable, although not ambitious, holiday outing.
Read Full Review
75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Slight, enjoyable comedy.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
You won't find a movie that's more fun this season -- but at 2-1/2 hours, it's probably too much of a good thing.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
For all his genre-hopping and shape-shifting Spielberg seems to have become too big to tell small stories, which is one reason why the film sputters on one too many false endings.
Read Full Review
70
Film Threat Rick Kisonak
We aren't talking Oscar here. We're talking truly fine performances and an unexpectedly hep John Williams score. We are talking a story that rollicks with the most rollicking of them. Not great cinema; just a great time at the movies and certainly a film well worth catching if you can.
Read Full Review
70
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Finally seems like a bit of a con in its own right, but a marvelously smooth one.
70
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Breezily enjoyable but thin.
Read Full Review
63
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Spielberg's inchoate attempts at cultural observation stretch the movie out and dilute the giddiness instead of adding a pleasurable spike. When the movie doesn't feel inflated, it feels soggy.
Read Full Review
63
USA Today Mike Clark
Catch offers mild fun but never as much as its animated '60s-retro opening credits portend. They're the cutest of the year.
Read Full Review
60
Salon.com Charles Taylor
Well-enough made and highly watchable, but it lacks the one thing that would put some swing in its step and some swagger in its attitude: a sense of jazz.
Read Full Review
60
TV Guide Ken Fox
The whole lighter-than-air lark whizzes by like a brisk, kandy-kolored dream of the 1960s, flavored by a Saul Bass inspired credit sequence; a slinky, Henry Mancini-esque score; and a stunning array of period sets and evocative locales.
Read Full Review
50
Village Voice J. Hoberman
DiCaprio is far more successfully cast here than in Gangs of New York: His performance is all about acting; it's a mild kick to see how he'll manage to talk his way out of nearly every scrape.
Read Full Review
50
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
What begins brightly gets bogged down over 140 minutes. A film that took off like a hare on speed ends like a winded tortoise.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 64 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ed M. gave it a9:
Fantastic, witty, clever and nailbiting the entire time...J. Ryan G stop trying to be cleverer than everyone else all the fucking time and just enjoy a good film. you cunt !!

Rebecca S. gave it a9:
This movie is smart, witty and plays with the elements of classic 1970's movies; such as one flew over the cukoo's nest. A highly entertaining watch.

Alex P gave it a10:
This movie marked a turn for Di Caprio as a pretty face in terrible movies to a great actor in great movies. This movie is funny, smart, and moving and the acting does not disappoint either.

Grace A. gave it a10:
I love it, a movie that can be watched over and over again and it will be good every time.

Peter C. gave it a10:
Way underrated, this is an exciting, quick, and well built movie with an excellent plot. Leo and Tom together work, but Tom does the better job.

Bit Burn gave it an8:
Highly entertaining.

Andy gave it a6:
Was entertaining but somewhat disappointing.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use