6. Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
The Subject Frank Abagnale, a conman who is pursued by the FBI due to his skilful involvement with check fraud.
The Story (According To The Film) After his parents divorce, Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) runs away from home and begins resorting to confidence scams in order to acquire money. His schemes become increasingly elaborate and most notably he poses as an airline pilot on several occasions. After he begins to make a significant amount of money from forging airline payroll checks, Frank is pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty. The two have several close encounters as Frank moves around the country, successfully posing as both a doctor and a lawyer as he continuously tries to impress his father, a conman himself. Following Franks engagement to a girl, Carl and the FBI catch up to him at his engagement party, but he manages to escape to Europe, albeit without his fiancée, who learns the truth about his lifestyle. Several months later, Carl captures Frank in France and brings him to justice. He is imprisoned, but soon becomes an employee of the FBI, working with Carl to combat check fraud.
The Lies Abagnale had no involvement with the film, and only met with the writer who wrote the book that served as the films source four times. As a result, aspects of the film that are fictional include the following: The continued interactions between Frank and his father. After leaving home in real life, Frank never saw his father again, but the film shows them meeting on a number of occasions as Frank attempts to impress the man. The implication that Carl Hanratty was almost solely responsible for capturing Frank. In reality, there is no Carl and his character is a composite of several agents, most notably a man named Joe Shea (which was the characters original name in the script). The depiction of Abagnale on the list of the FBIs Top 10 Most Wanted criminals, a list that is reserved for violent individuals and terrorists, not nonviolent white-collar criminals such as Frank.