Catch Me if You Can (2002)

In terms of holiday credentials, "Catch Me if You Can" is appropriately evasive. In a real sense, it both is and is not a Christmas movie: it leverages the holidays in interesting ways and returns to them throughout the movie, but the holidays don't shape the the tone, narrative, or theme the way they might in a romantic comedy or drama with a similar structure. They're a supporting player here and they clearly serve a purpose, but they're not the core of the movie, nor do they occupy the bulk of its runtime.

But we'll get to that. First, this is based on the (allegedly) true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a conman and forger who wrote a popular (and suspect) autobiography about his life. But true or not, it makes for a gripping, funny, engaging adventure in the hands of one of the best directors of all time. Apparently 1941 didn't sour Steven Spielberg on Christmas forever, so here we are.

The movie is driven forward by the various cons and tricks Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) pulls to make money, win women, and stay one step ahead of the law, which in this case is mostly personified by Carl (Tom Hanks), an FBI agent trying to catch up with the elusive criminal. Each crime has the feeling of a heist, though Frank is always presented as working alone. He impersonates airline pilots, an ER doctor, a lawyer, and - at one point - even a Secret Service agent over the course of the movie. DiCaprio sells his character's charm and believability, while Spielberg keeps the entire thing whimsical and fun. Frank's crimes tend to be victimless - we never once see anyone other than Frank in serious danger (hell, we rarely see Frank that way), so the stakes are mostly limited to how long he can keep doing this stuff. In the handful of situations where serious reflection might be called for (mostly centered on his use of near-superhuman abilities to pick up women), the framing manages to make it feel light and silly. That's not to absolve Frank Abagnale of culpability, but for what it's worth, he probably made those parts up anyway.

The movie is mostly light and silly, but it does veer into somewhat darker territory when it comes to Frank's relationship with his father, a man he idolizes a bit too much. Frank Sr., played by Christopher Walken, is a bit of a huckster himself, though he's nowhere near as bold or successful as his son. At the beginning, we see (via a Christmas sequence) his father winning an award from the Rotary Club. We also see his family seemingly happy together in a large house. Spielberg gives us enough of this from Frank Jr.'s POV to establish his nostalgic connection to this time.

Nostalgia, of course, is probably the most common use of the holidays in US Christmas media produced after 1940. But keep in mind this is a Spielberg movie, so he's not sticking with the simplified approach. From the start there's a schism between the way Frank views his childhood and the way it's actually presented. The scenery isn't picturesque, his father's cavalier philosophy was always a lit fuse, and his parents' marriage isn't remotely as stable as he thinks. Frank's nostalgia for the past is itself another lie, this time one he tells himself, and it traps him in a cycle he can't escape from. 

In that respect, whether the movie is or is not a Christmas movie, it works as a metaphor for modern holiday media, which has been locked in a cycle of replicating nostalgia for Christmases of the past since World War II. I can't imagine Spielberg was approaching the movie in those terms, but it makes for a surprisingly apt comparison.

This flashback to December 1963 isn't even the first Christmas we're shown: that comes in the scene before (also a flashback, as is virtually the entire movie), in which we see Christmas 1969, when Carl extradites Frank from France to America. This is portrayed as an act of mercy, as the conditions in the French prison come closer to killing Frank than anything else we see in the movie (though perhaps not as close as it appears, as Frank is soon revealed to be attempting an escape).

In addition to establishing Frank as eternally on the run, this also establishes Carl as someone who seems to care about the young criminal. Over the course of the movie, we'll see this relationship develop, and - surprise, surprise - it also centers around the holidays. After Frank and Carl meet in a sequence Frank barely manages to talk his way out of, he begins calling Carl at Christmas to talk. Frank is usually depressed around the holidays, for reasons tying back to nostalgia, so he reaches out to Carl. The FBI agent is initially reluctant, but over time he becomes a sort of alternate father figure for Frank. Frank's actual father prefers exaggerations and illusion, while Carl is committed to the truth, even when it's difficult. He's a disciplinarian, as opposed to an enabler (we see Frank's actual father encourage his destructive behavior on several occasions).

There's actually a third father figure introduced, albeit a significantly less significant one. After his cover as an airline pilot is blown, Frank tries his hand as a hospital doctor. During this, he winds up in a relationship with Brenda (played by a post-Psycho Beach Party, pre-Enchanted Amy Adams). They wind up engaged, and he goes to meet her parents, who at least seem to have the relationship he wanted his own to have. We see him watching them, wanting to be part of this life and family. That Christmas - because of course this segment needs to overlap with another holiday - he calls Carl and asks if they can just all stop. He doesn't want to be a criminal anymore, so in his mind there's no reason for Carl to chase him.

Except for the millions of dollars he stole, of course. Carl doesn't lie to him or sugarcoat the situation. He'd said from the start the only way this ends is with Frank caught and prosecuted, and he reiterates that again here. Carl also manages to get some valuable information from Frank, which he uses to track him down. Frank gets away again and even attempts to take Brenda with him, but she's not a criminal and doesn't consider the truth malleable.

Once again, he's on his own. Then it's just a matter of time before Carl tracks him down - again at Christmas. But this is in a French village where Frank's parents met. He's still chasing this dream of the past in defiance of the reality of his present: alone in a cold factory producing fraudulent checks on Christmas Eve. Carl goes in to get him, and Frank tries to continue what he perceives as the game they've been playing. But of course this is no game, nor is it America. Carl went in to bring Frank out alive: a massive number of French police are waiting outside. There's nowhere to run this time. 

Now we've come full circle. We jump ahead two years, back to 1969, the Christmas Carl manages to extradite Frank back to America. Frank has only one request: to call his father. Here, Carl actually does lie to him, at least at first. He tells him he can do so when they land. But as they approach he admits the truth: his father died while Frank was in prison. Reeling from this revelation, Frank manages to escape from under Carl's nose. He goes to the home of his mother - now remarried with a daughter - and looks through the window at the Christmas they're celebrating. This time, we're shown the idyllic family Christmas he hungered for, but it's a moment he can never be part of due to the choices he's made. Carl, knowing he'd be there, appears, and Frank doesn't even try to get away.

In yet another Christmas sequence, we see Carl visit Frank in prison several years later. He shows Frank some evidence connected to the case he's working on - more bad checks - and with a glance Frank identifies key information Carl had missed. Carl then manages to get Frank released from prison under the condition he works for the FBI. He also talks him out of running, and Frank finally stops. The postscript tells us he got married and had a family, as well as a successful career in security and law enforcement.

You may be curious after reading all that why I'm hedging on calling this a Christmas movie. Well... the thing is... that synopsis is a lie.

Okay, not a lie exactly. Everything I wrote happened in the movie, but it wouldn't really be accurate to say it was the movie. I glossed over numerous plot points, character beats, and relationships that don't tie neatly into Christmas. Sure, the Christmas holidays keep coming up, but so do other seasons and events (though notably no other holidays, unless I'm forgetting something).

Likewise, while I stand behind my reading of nostalgia as one of the movie's themes, it's hardly alone. There's a lot going on here, much of which has nothing to do with Christmas. More importantly, at the end of the day, the movie is more interested in Frank's serialized adventures than it is in the drama supporting the frame story. Spielberg put together a compelling narrative, but what sticks in your memory isn't Frank's internal struggle to find a stable family; it's stuff like him tricking eight young women into traveling with him as stewardess applicants so a virtual army of police looking for him won't actually be looking at him while he strolls onto an airplane under their noses.

So, it's not a Christmas movie? I'm not committing to that, either. Actually, I'm leaning towards Christmas movie here. Structurally, this has a lot in common with, say, When Harry Met Sally, in terms of how the holidays are distributed. Granted, that is more eager to highlight the season when it appears, while this treats it more like a background element, almost an extension of the score. But a lot of that comes down to tone and genre, and I've never been willing to accept a world where either dictate qualification.

Wherever you fall on that debate, this is a fantastic movie, a quirky, lighthearted Spielberg adventure that's almost a cross between his Amblin days and the Bond movies and Flash comic namechecked throughout the film. You could say a great deal about the role those play in this film, too, but that's a little outside my targeted yuletide purview.