Catch Me If You Can Teams Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks

Broadcast: Jan 01 2003

 

In 1964, 16-year-old Frank Abagnale, ¹⁾distraught over his parents' divorce, ran away from home. He survived by successfully impersonating various respected professionals, among them airline pilot, college professor, doctor and lawyer.

By the time he was 20, when he was caught, he had cashed millions of dollars in phony checks. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Frank Abagnale, whom he describes as "a great, instinctual actor."

"His cons¹ at times almost seem too good to be true and too obvious, but that's what he played with and that's the elements of any great magician, too: throw something in the audience's face while they do their sleight² of hand move," said DiCaprio. "It's the art of misdirection that Frank Abagnale mastered; but that comes from a state of mind, too. He was ripped apart from his home. He came from a divorced home where he had to choose between his mother and his father. That ²⁾propelled him out into the real world and made him feel that he didn't have to answer to anyone."

"The challenge, of course, is starting with a man who is already incarcerated³, and then begging the audience permission to so ³⁾sympathize with him that they don't want that first scene to come true," said director Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg, whose own parents split up when he was a teenager and is, himself, a divorced father, believes that aspect of Frank's life gives insight into his ⁴⁾larcenous⁴ adventures. "I emphasized the divorce to try to give him a reason: trying to put his parents back together or his loneliness, because he was basically a boy on the run having to invent himself for the first time," he said.

"He came of age on the run, doing all these brilliant scams. So I thought the divorce almost excused some of the early things that he did. The other thing that I think excuses a lot of what he does [is that] he goes after the big banks that hurt his dad. He doesn't go after the 'mom and pop' stores. He always paid cash for ⁵⁾groceries. He paid cash when he bought stationery⁵ to forge the checks. He always paid cash to the small stores because he didn't want to hurt anybody."

The real Frank Abagnale now works as a consultant⁶ to the FBI and top corporations, giving expert advice on how to prevent fraud. He admits a major concern of his was that the film not ⁶⁾glamorize his escapades which he describes, today, as "illegal and immoral⁷" "Obviously, as a kid, there was a lot of fun to it," he said. "To any 16-year-old, dating 25-year-old women is a lot of fun. What started to bother me was my conscience. For the first three or four years, I could always walk into a bank say to myself, 'This bank has a billion dollars, I'm going to go in and cash a $500 check. What do they care?' But when I got to be about 19 years old, I'd walk into the bank and realize that I had convinced this teller⁸ to break every rule and cash this check for me. When I walked out, I felt guilty about the teller who might lose her job and not be able to get a job at another bank. It was maturity⁹ and my conscience. I knew I would eventually get caught. It was just a matter of time."

Tom Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who is actually a composite character based on several investigators¹⁰ who eventually caught Frank Abagnale. Hanks acknowledges the moral ambiguity¹¹ of having the scoundrel, no matter how affable, as hero. "I think it is a very accurate reflection of the morality of the world. We have an interest in Carl Hanratty pursuing him and we're going to be involved in that chase; but not only are we rooting for Frank Abagnale, I think we fancy ourselves as Frank Abagnale. He's not hurting anybody. All he's doing is taking from the banks. All he's doing is cheating on his taxes. This is the way it seems as though our ethics¹² have evolved to this point. By and large we hope the white collar guys get away with ripping off the big corporations. We don't want the corporations to get away with it, but we do want the average Joe to pass a bad check."

Catch Me If You Can also features Christoper Walken, Martin Sheen and French actress Nathalie Baye. It is filmed in vivid 1960s style by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and the musical score is by another frequent Steven Spielberg collaborator¹³, John Williams.

Alan Silverman for VOA News, in Holywood.

 

1.    distraught [dis5trC:t]adj.发狂的

2.    propel[prE5pel]vt.推进, 驱使

3.    sympathize [5sImpEWaIz]vi.同情, 共鸣, 同感, 同意, 吊唁

4.    larcenous [5lB:sinEs]adj.盗窃的

5.    groceries [5^rEJsIrIIs]n.食品；杂货

6.    glamorize [5^lAmEraiz]v.使有魔力, 使光荣

 

1 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sleight   

n.技巧，花招

参考例句：

• With a little statistical sleight of hand they could make things look all right.只要在统计上耍些小小的花招，他们就能瞒天过海。
• In the theater of the media there is an economic sleight of hand.传播媒介在经济上耍了一个大花招。

3 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

4 larcenous   

adj.盗窃的

参考例句：

• A larcenous tendency restricted to shady operators and others of that ilk. 局限于靠不住的经营者及那种人的一种偷窃倾向。 来自互联网
• Former it is blame of larcenous finance organization, weigh more than general larceny measurement of penalty. 前者是盗窃金融机构罪，比一般的盗窃罪量刑重得多。 来自互联网

5 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

8 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

9 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

12 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

13 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。