Directed by Steven Spielberg
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks
It's 1963, and Leonardo DiCaprio's Frank Abagnale is an unhappy teenager whose family is falling apart. He escapes by leaping from one persona to another, with FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) in hot but often fruitless pursuit. Unlike that other famous imposter, Ferdinand Demara, who was genuinely competent at all he turned his hand to, Abagnale succeeds by sheer, breezy chutzpah, passing himself off as a substitute, a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer… He's a kid who's figured out most people won't look beyond a façade of effortless confidence, especially in the swinging, youth-obsessed '60s. The result is an engaging caper film with more than a dash of social satire.