Fun fact: at the scene where Frank is arrested in France, the officer who scorts him and puts him inside the police car is the real Frank Abagnale Jr.

The stewardess you recognized is Meredith on Gray's Anatomy. Also, you keep saying that he only cares about the money, but (at least as he's portrayed in this movie- I can't speak for the actual person) he's actually obsessed with family. But in his adolescent mind, that's closely tied to money. His seemingly perfect family fell apart when his dad lost whatever money he had and they had to leave their lovely home in the suburbs for an apartment. Eventually, his mother left his father for a more financially stable man. Of course, there was probably a lot more to it, but not that he would see as their child (who idolizes his father and thus can't see any other faults that she might have had issue with). This entire movie he's been trying to get them back together, and if you pay attention, it's always with obvious signs of wealth (let's buy you a new suit and take mom out to a fancy restaurant... what will she think when she sees you drive up in this fancy new car I bought you... etc). He desperately wants the family that he lost. You can see it when he meets Brenda's parents- how he looks at them when they're watching a TV show together as a family, and how the husband and wife are swaying together to the music as they wash the dishes. So he genuinely wants to marry Brenda and settle down- he wants to have a family so badly. He just thinks money is a necessary ingredient to that, without which it will all fall apart.

It's amazing how effortless is Christopher Walken's acting. In the restaurant scene, Spielberg was left speechless

I met Frank when I was in high school in the 80s. He came to my school as a public speaker where they told this whole story. The students were pretty riveted. It was pretty wild years later seeing this story made into a movie.

One of the greatest themes in Spielberg filmography is the father-son relationship. Spielberg came from a divorced family. His father was a workaholic and distant guy with which he had so many conflicts and fights so he reflected this in a good portion of his movies, if not in all: characters searching for validation from paternal figures or characters feeling abandoned by their fathers like in Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Hook, A.I., etc... and in this one...

Ironically the real Frank Abagnale fabricated most of his biography and hugely inflated his achievements, so he's never given up being a con artist, making this movie even more fiction than intended.

The movie is about fatherhood, as are many of Spielberg's movies. Christopher Walken's character is a bad father to Leo DiCaprio's character. Tom Hanks becomes the father he needed. The scene where Walken says, "Come on, I'm your father," and Leo responds, "Then ask me to stop." Walken says, "You can't stop." The very next scene Leo asks Hanks to stop chasing him, and Hanks says, "I can't stop." They are polar opposites, Hanks' and Walken's characters. Hanks is a strait-laced, by-the-book guy; Walken is a con-man. Frank needs a father who won't give up insisting that he walk the path of doing what is right, and who won't give up on him. He finally finds that in Carl. Interesting comparison: in Spielberg's movie Hook (1991), he has another scene of a lost boy coming to a window on a snowy night near Christmas and finding that he's been replaced by another child, just like the scene where Leo does that in this movie. That scenario must have spoken powerfully to Spielberg in some way for him to use it in two different movies.

Just like Carl said at the end, "living the lie is so much better than living the truth." So many of us face this truth on a daily basis, but we're not good at stealing. So we watch TV, or IG about rich people, or go to fancy hotels or restaurants to get a taste of the billionaire life. In the end all that really matters is love and family.

Fun fact. It turned out he actually lied about all of this! And I'm not joking! The man gets a movie about him and it turned out a couple years ago he scammed this too

20:33 She's a candy striper. They are volunteers who do small jobs around the hospital and they usually hired young girls for that job. My sister was one when she was a teen.

The real Frank Abagnale lived in my city (Tulsa, OK) for a long time and was actually in a neighborhood less than 2 miles from me. I had a friend that lived in his neighborhood and when we were about 7 or 8 we went trick or treating and his house was one of the many we went to. I didn't even know who he was at the time, but I do remember him having a giant bucket of full size candy bars and letting us each grab a handful. Seemed like a really nice person.

If you’re gonna start reacting to the James Bond movies, I recommend you start with Dr. No.

Leonardo Dicaprio & Tom Hanks performances in this movie is top notch, cool reaction as always Mary, take care sweetie 🥰

Best Mary quote from this vid - "This is not going to work. She sits on her dad's lap for Christ's sake." lol

Parks, the inspiration for Brenda, claims their relationship in the film is not only heavily exaggerated, but blithely mischaracterized. In reality, Parks was a stewardess who met Abagnale while he was posing as a pilot. Though they struck up a friendship, it was quickly derailed when he discovered her work schedule (through deceptive means) and followed her all over the Eastern Seabord. Parks didn't know what to do with him. She tried to tell him that she wasn't interested, but he was persistent. After essentially stalking her through work, Abagnale showed up at her apartment in New Orleans where she told him that she was leaving to go visit her parents in Baton Rouge. He decided to tag along. After he met her parents, the duo parted ways and that seemed to be the end of it ... until Abagnale returned. He ended up staying with the family for quite a while. Having successful wined and dined Parks' parents, they came to trust him - even though Parks herself didn't. While he was staying in her family home and sleeping in her old bedroom, she was very reasonably mortified. Her parents were cooking meals for him and introducing him to people in Baton Rouge. Although he took them out to dinners as a thank you, it was later revealed that he was doing this with checks he was stealing from them. Abagnale allegrdly stole about $1,200 from the Parks family, and even more from local businesses in Baton Rouge.

At the time the movie was made, it was thought that Abignale had really gotten away with a bunch of these things, but then it came out relatively recently that he made it all up. He conned the world that he was a successful conman, when that was in fact the only con he did and he got consulting work for the government & book deals, and a movie deal from it.

Frank and Carl aren't friends to this day, as Carl's character is entirely fictional. Frank was serving a three-year prison sentence in New York for most of the period covered in this movie (when he was 17-20 years old). Most of his crimes were small-time (beginning with running up several thousands of dollar of debt on a credit card his father gave him to buy gas for his car, and stealing a car belonging to his father's friend. Though he spent some time running from the law, he was caught frequently and did jail time. When he was released he just kept scamming folks. He was never the subject of a nation-wide man-hunt by the FBI, and though he did forge checks the total amount of money he stole was less than $2000. There's no evidence he ever took or passed the Bar in any state, though he may have claimed to be a lawyer at some point. The scene of him posing as a pilot to recruit women to become stewardesses took place in Arizona, though it is creepier than portrayed here because this is where he claimed to be a doctor as well as a pilot, and apparently performed "physical exams" on several of the women. He never "worked for" the FBI though he may have consulted with them, but this was after he started his security firm, Abagnale & Associates, and successfully marketed himself to banks by inflating the nature of his claimed crimes. He is successful today, though most of his money comes from the success of his book and from the movie (both of which are largely fictional) and from his high fees for doing public lectures (in which he recounts the same fictional stories). No doubt they are great stories and he tells them well. I loved this movie and wanted to believe that it was all true (as we often do with great fiction), but at my core I'm just a little bit bugged by people telling fiction stories and claiming that they are true.

In real life, Frank's father was the first scam victim. After his mother moved out following the divorce, Frank stayed with his father, and around that time, committed his very first scam. Using his father's credit cards, he began charging thousands of dollars - but when the first bill arrived, his father caught on. After a brief stint at a school for wayward boys, Frank moved out on his own at just 16 years old. And unlike in the movie, Frank never saw his father again. He's said that while he was in prison, his father was in a freak slip-and-fall accident and died after falling down the steps of a New York subway station.

Frank Abigail has given various talks and appeared on tv shows recounting stories from his life. Many can be found right here on KZfaq. It would be cool if you did a follow up reacting to some of those.

RE: James Bond movies, it's a tricky thing because people usually love the Bond they grow up with, so that's why there's always arguments about the "best Bond". I've seen them all multiple times over the course of 40 years, I was even a Bond nerd when I was a kid, learning all the trivia and reading the books. I grew up with Moore, but I'm not a sentimental type of person. He's the worst. If you want to experience Bond, I recommend: 1. From Russia With Love (1963) - A more useful place to start than with the actual first one, 'Dr. No'. 2. Goldfinger (1964) (only if you intend to watch Austin Powers some day) 3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) (only if you intend to watch the latest Bond movie, 'No Time to Die', which I do recommend but only if you watch this first) 4. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - A good example of a mid-series Bond movie, also to see Moore and to see how the tropes have become elaborated and more theatrical. 5. License to Kill (1989) (only if you want to see Dalton) 6. Goldeneye (1995) (only if you want to see Brosnan) 7. Casino Royale (2006) - The best Bond movie. Must see. 8. No Time to Die (2022) - ONLY after 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' for the best experience. So, minimum, 'From Russia with Love' and 'Casino Royale'. But for a fuller experience, these eight. Incidentally, nos. 2, 3, 4, and 7 have great theme songs, they'll get stuck in your head. Especially 3.

Another great movie that has a similar feel to this one is The Terminal (2004), Spielgberg & Tom Hanks & planes, comedy, sad undertones. And most importantly, it has an airport.

Frank didn't do it for the money; he did it for the thrill. That's what's so addictive about this sort of lifestyle for many people.

Mary, if you like movies based on true crime stories, I suggest you watch A Place in the Sun (1951) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967). They are both considered Hollywood classics and are both on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. And they are based on true crime stories.

As a lawyer myself, I always enjoy your reactions to any law-related film. :) The first James Bond film was Doctor No (1962). The most recent one was No Time to Die (2021). I think there are 26 or so, altogether. (Is this really a rabbit hole you want to jump into???) I think there's general agreement that Goldfinger (1964) and Casino Royale (2006) are the two best. Goldfinger was the clip you saw in this movie. Martin Sheen was one of the stars of the TV series The West Wing, where he was fabulous. He also played John F. Kennedy in a 1983 TV mini-series about that president. The Michigan and Massachusetts Bar Exams, which I passed, each took me about 8 weeks to study for, and that was *after* graduating from law school. (Although I'll admit that, after passing the Michigan Bar, I didn't study nearly so hard for the Massachusetts Bar, and I passed anyway.) However, two things: First, Louisiana has a substantially different legal system than any other State in the U. S. (it's actually based on European civil law; you'd understand it better than I would). Second, back in the 60s, when Frank took that exam, it was still possible to self-teach your way to qualify. I doubt I could do it in two weeks, especially with no prior experience, but it's not impossible. I mean, Frank was obviously highly intelligent.

Abagnale's claims were made before fact-checking involved Google searches. But it also helps that when Abagnale began telling his story in the '70s, there wasn't much research digging into his claims. He began making these claims at small events and eventually found himself on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." By that point, people assumed the questions had already been asked.

The Louisiana bar exam is considered the most difficult bar exam in the country, because Louisiana operates under a French law system, but you are also tested on English common law.

Oh I can't wait to watch this. It's one of my favorites because I was so depressed when I watched it and it made me feel so good. I went ALONE on Christmas day after dropping off my 4 kids at my ex's in a blizzard

Love this movie. Belle réaction as always! You've lots of movies to catch up :) Cheers and get well soon!

"Is this inspired by a true story? I can't imagine that this would happen, but wow..." It is inspired by a true story, but he wasn't making any phone calls on Christmas. The real life Frank Abignale Jr. is actually in this movie. Ironically, cast as a police officer.

Thanks for reacting to this. It is a favorite of mine and it seems to have gotten lost behind the flashy, explosive super-hero movies. The fact that it is mostly true is even better.

There are also a ton of people in this that this was some of their earlier roles and were no named actors beforehand. Amy adams ( she was the main char in arrival you recently watched ) played brenda, elizabeth banks was the teller at the bank and jennifer garner was super young in this as the hooker at the hotel.

The book’s incredible; couldn’t put it down. There’s actually much more to what he did than is shown in the film. The follow up book, The Art of the Steal, was good too.

James Bond? Chronologically. You start with Dr No and go from there. Great reaction, Mari.

The amount of future leading actresses in this movie. Ellen Pompeo, Jennifer Garner, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Adams all pretty big names in Hollywood.

Two TOM HANKS movies that Mary would love to watch are CAST AWAY (2000 film) and CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013 film and true story)

A Deadhead is an airline employee who basically just catches a ride on a flight so they can either get to another airport to work a flight, or just to get home.

Frank was actually one of four children, growing up with two brothers and a sister. On a similar note, Abagnale's mother never remarried and the Christmastime window scene where he discovers her with a new daughter never actually happened.

So happy you're reacting to this. Currently @ sports bar watching Saints LOSE but watching vid soon as I return home.

_"I still need to watch a James Bond movie, where do you start with those?"_ - The beginning - Dr. No. _"It's so nice how he's consolidating him."_ - That's what I'm here for.

If you want to delve into the James Bond franchise, I recommend going in order of realease, starting with Sean Connery in "Dr. No" (1962).

Basically, the film is a total fiction. Thanks to several journalists over the years, pretty much every aspect of Abagnale's claims about his crimes have been thoroughly disproven. In reality, he was a petty criminal who defrauded a lot of hardworking people and spent his youth in an out of prisons all over the country. I still absolutely love this film. I enjoy it as fiction, and everything about it is a work of art.

I worked for the City Public Works Dept. and quite often we had to gain access into peoples back yards to locate sewer/drain lines. All we wore was an orange vest and carried a pick ax (to open manholes) and not once were we ever questioned or IDed. Makes you think.

The most amazing part of this story is how it is basically a scam in and of itself!

If you like movies based on a real story, you should take a look at a beautiful mind. It's about a genius, fighting his demons. It's a beautiful movie, overall, and I'm quite sure you would like it. By the way, I'm liking your reactions very much. Just go on like that.

The title sequence for this film remains a personal favourite.

the aviator is another great dicaprio film you ought to check out

The film ends with Abagnale working directly with the FBI, but this isn't exactly how things shook out. When the film was released, an FBI spokesperson (via NewsDay) acknowledged that Abagnale had given lectures at the Academy "from time to time," but denied other grandiose claims about the agency employing Abagnale.

Great Reaction and this 69-year-old Londoner had a tear in his eye at the end and I have seen this before. A missing scene here was the fantastic trick he played on "The Lady Of The Night"..lol

This one I actually didn't like that much the first time I saw it. I've since seen it a hundred times on cable and love it. Very rewatchable. Great score by John Williams.

Regarding the lawyer con: The fifth floor of the building Frank claims to have worked in never housed his agency's offices. For his part, Abagnale has always had a response to these claims - arguing that the people he scammed simply don't want to admit that they were fooled.

Also Marijke, what toook this movie to the next level is the John Williams score. I often find myself walking around the house singing the mischieveous obo riff when I am doing something micheveious. I am not a criminal but we all do something naughty every now and then. HA Why not have a soundtrack to my own person life. I deserve it.

Deadhead is a term used a lot in commercial transportation (especially trucking). It's an unpaid trip...so when you finish one job at point B but your next job begins at point C, the miles between the 2 locations is deadhead, cause there's no cargo therefore it's either unpaid or an out of pocket expense to you. The term originated from Greatful Dead fans...they are known as Deadheads used to follow the band all around the country to watch their shows.

The guy who played Agent Fox was Frank John Hughes, Wild Bill Guarnere in Band of Brothers.

I met Frank when he interviewed on the radio station where I worked. Amazing guy. I really like the movies theme music.

A small detail I saw in an interview to the real Frank Abagnale Jr.: his hair started graying when very young, so even being a teenager, he looked older. That helped him a lot with his tricks.

I got not tears to feed upon, goddamnit. I did like laughing at the quacks man, that was hilarious

Tom Hanks' character was fictional, he was based on real FBI agents trying to track down Abagnale.

All the performances in this are great, but this was the first time that I realized how great of an actor DiCaprio is. Before this, I just knew him from Titanic and how all the girls had a crush on him. He was good in Titanic but I just didn't see the fuss. Catch Me if You Can made it clear that he was one of the best younger actors working. You should check out "The Aviator" some time. I think you would enjoy that too.

Great Reaction Mary! If your favorite genre is Crime movies and true stories, i recommend "Zodiac" directed by David Fincher the same director form Seven. It is both crime and true story togheter. Also from David Fincher "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo" this one is not from a true story but from a crime thiller book.

I actually got to meet the real-life Frank Abagnale in the late '90s when I was working in the computer department of a bank. He was doing seminars teaching bank employees how to detect and avoid fraud. It was a really cool experience.

gotta love Tom's mid Atlantic accent

High anxiety whenever you're near high anxiety it's you that I fear. Mel Brooks + High Anxiety= Comedy Gold.🤪🤪🤪😜😛

Important to realize the times and back then in the early days of commercial flying being a pilot or a stewardess was like being a rock star. And everyone admired them greatly.

" No necklace for you, m'lady"......haha

Background info on the opening scene: This was a re-creation of the American game show YO TELL THE TRUTH, in which 3 people all claiming the same identity try to stump a celebrity panel, earning money for every panelist fooled. . Frank actually did appear on the show in the 1970's, the studio set was faithfully rebuilt for the movie, and the actual theme song was Aldo used.

"what if you fall into water though?" Wow

For the fans of this type of storyline/character dynamic, I sincerely recommend the TV series 'White Collar'.

The scene shot in the white terminal towards the end is the TWA hotel converted when they closed

"12:00" I've never heard that noise come out of a person before lol..caught me off guard haha

The game show female panelist with the brunette hair was the real life panelist in the movie. Kitty carlisle 1910 - 2007 and the show was to tell the truth 1957-1968, 1969-1978, 1980-1981, 1990-1991, 2000 and she appeared on every version of the show.

Hey Marijke, I think we all have to understand that the family dynamic in the Abignale household was driven from the parent's growing up with a lack of money. The mother came from war-torn France were they didn't even know the name to baking products like, "Sara Lee". The father only got to travel and build his business and his family from being in the WW2. He was living the male fairtale life. GReat wife, community respect (ala winning awards).

start in this order: 1 Dr. No (1962) 2 From Russia with Love (1963) 3 Goldfinger (1964) 4 Thunderball (1965) 5 You Only Live Twice (1967)

In the movie where you saw this young girl with braces on her teeth wearing a red and white nursing uniform she wasn't a nurse she was a teenager called at "Candy Striper" which was a high school volunteer girls that were unpaid hospital workers who may want to go into nursing after high school, she wasn't a adult nurse she was no older than Frank Jr. who was scamming as a doctor they were both teenagers.

You should read the book. He had a harrowing experience in the European prison. The book also covers more things that were left out in the movie.

Such a nice movie mary, as for the james bond question the first james bond film is Dr. No. So maybe start there

a deadhead in airline terminology is an employee, usually a pilot or stewardess that is hitching a ride so that they can be ready for a flight they are working at a different airport.

James Bond : where do you start with that? You start with Dr. No (1962) with Sean Connery as James Bond.

One of my favorite movies. Even though it's based on a true story there is so much artistry and creativity in telling it.

In America we have a saying, "Just act like you own the place".

At some point after he started working for the FBI Frank moved to Kansas City, where he became a public speaker. My wife, who worked for a speaker's bureau, booked him into many corporate events.

His character is similar to Waldo Demara, known as the Great Imposter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Waldo_Demara Tony Curtis played him in the move of the same name. Demara eventually came to Canada, where he impersonated a Doctor in the Royal Canadian Navy. He somehow obtained a uniform, talked his way onto Esquimalt Naval base, and reported to the destroyer HMCS Cayuga as their new ships' doctor, Joseph C. Cyr. The Destroyer was about to depart for the Korean War. Demara served as ships' doctor, at one point performing operations on 16 wounded Korean soldiers. This story ended up in the news, where it was spotted by the mother of the real Dr. Cyr. The jig was up and he was sent back to the US, with the RCN not pressing charges,

Mary said it just right... "A Gem!"

The scenes in France were filmed in Québec City. The actors are all French Canadians-:)

The reason criminals don't get out while they're still ahead is you feel like you are in complete control until you aren't. - me a criminal

17:00 For James Bond movies, there seem to be two sets of opinions: start at the very beginning with Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962), or skip the first and start with the second, From Russia with Love (1963). I, myself, didn't think Dr. No was all that great or added anything, so I'd recommend starting with From Russia with Love.

Yes!!! been waiting for this one.

This is a like a master class in filmmaking for a general drama; specifically historical drama. Spielberg is such a brilliant tactician as a director and cinematic mind. Doesn't hurt to have such a fantastic cast. Much credit as well to the casting agent(s).

perfect choice for you.

Tont Curtis made a movie about a million years ago called "the great imposter". When "CMIYC" came out I thought it was a remake. But alas, this guy was an entirely different con man. Nice to know so many tricksters are out there. Good job Mary.

In 1960, Tony Curtis played the lead in the movie "The Great Imposter", where he did the similar things as Leonardo although they were different careers( he did pretend to be a doctor for one career). The two movies while not completely identical, are very similar.

The French actors at the beginning of this movie are known French Canadian actors. I recognized some of them.

20:33 "why does she act like a child?" those are candystrip nurses. they start at 14 so, they're literally children.

Similar to Kevin Mitnick who was in jail for computer hacking and now he works to catch hackers.

I think I recommended this one a long time ago. So happy you finally watched it.

Ha.... That Neeeeeeeh at 8:04 reminded me of Conehead's.... LOL

19:50-20:09 A very good question. Now I'm very far from any sort of expert on this sort of subject but for you Mary (or more likely YOU) I'll tell you I can already think of three reasons. 1. The skill-set of a criminal and the skill-set of a legitimate business person are different. I imagine that depending on your type of criminal and legitimate business you could get a fair to concerning amount of overlap but they're still different skill-sets. If you've gotten this good at using the first you probably have very little to no practice using the other. Which would make the switch noticeably more complicated. 2. The thrill of a successful criminal life is hard to impossible to replicate. People can be as addicted to a criminal life as to cigarettes or dope. Even if that's not the case, let's just say that there's a reason I've heard gangster/criminal type work referred to as "the Life." And that reason isn't that it's easy to get out of it. Between fellow criminals playing good cop to keep you in work and law enforcement playing bad cop while hunting you... And that's assuming your colleagues are willing to play nice. "Do this job for me or you never see your family again!' That type of deal. 3. It usually takes considerable effort to maintain this sort of lifestyle. At least as much as legitimate work requires. Probably considerably more. When running is taking that much effort from you it's easy to run out of resources to dedicate to finding a way out, if that option even occurs to them.

deadheading is when a crew member is flying to the an airport to get to the flight they are working on at no charge to them. It may be on their airline or a different one.

21:26 is the content I come here to see. 😆 Great flick, great reaction!

James Bond starts with 1962's Doctor No, then From Russia With Love, then Goldfinger...

Great reaction! One thing about Leonardos Character is that he was never about the money, his Character was simply so absorbed in regaining the happy care free loving times of his childhood when his parents were together so much so that he went to great extremes to try and achieve it at all costs. That is what I call heart. Did not go about it the best way but it still took guts to do what he did.