Catch Me If You Can: Taking forgery to new heights!

This is a movie I have looked forward to watching. It has gone in and out of my mind and I’m glad I finally saw it. The fact is, Catch Me If You Can is now one of my favorite movies of all time. That is a very difficult club to become a part of, and I hope this review can explain why it deserves that spot.

Catch Me If You Can is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a check embezzler played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Sixteen-year-old Frank finds himself going from rich to poor after his dad, Christopher Walken, has a hard time keeping his business up. After a short time Frank’s parents get a divorce and he decides to run away with what little money he has. Frank uses his new checkbook to “bounce” his way through several hotels and apartments. Frank soon decides he needs real money, and concocts a scheme to pose as an airline pilot, forging checks payable to his new persona. Frank then travels around the country cashing forged checks and getting in over his head. The FBI finds out about his schemes and sends Carl Hanratty, Tom Hanks, to catch Frank. Antics ensue as DiCaprio runs away from Hanks.

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite people to see in a movie. From Titanic to Inception, he can play every role pitch perfect. Catch Me If You Can is no exception to the rule. DiCaprio plays the young criminal flawlessly. Every line and every word is delivered with finesse and respect for the source material. I can’t tell you enough how much I loved him in this role.

Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks. He is famous for being great. Hanks plays the New York detective like a pro. Carl feels put down at his job and even more so by a criminal that seems impossible to catch, and this distress is shown through Hanks flawlessly. Every missed mark and every wrong check can be seen though Hanks’ body language.

The director needs no introduction. He is the one and only Steven Spielberg. Perfect at every turn, the direction could not have been better. Spielberg pulls it off once again with genius timing and astounding skill. As montages go, Catch Me If You Can had one that I may never forget. It’s difficult to make a movie like this, but I know nobody else who could do it better than Steven Spielberg.

Rarely will I write about or even notice the music in a film, but composer John Williams made several catchy pieces that will be stuck in my head for weeks. John Williams has had an outstanding past with movies and Catch Me If You Can will be added to one of his many other successes.

It is not often that I see a movie as enthralling as Catch Me If You Can. I was almost always on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what Frank and Carl would do next. I say almost because it lags a bit at the end. The lagging is understandable, but I wish there was a way to make it a little more exciting. Other than that, Catch Me If You Can is one of very few almost perfect movies. 9.5/10

Knight and Day: Witty, Charming, Fun

When this movie debuted, I was super excited to go see it. The fact that Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise are two of my favorite actors, coupled with the genuinely good-looking trailers had me pumped. Unfortunately, I saw the reviews and was taken aback. I decided to skip the apparently mediocre film and move on to other things. That was until yesterday when I finally decided to see this movie, and while it may be formulaic, Diaz and Cruise make it such a fun time that I was always excited to see the next scene.

Knight and Day is about Diaz’s character, June, having a chance meeting with Cruise’s character, Roy. They bump into each other at the airport, and Roy is put onto the same flight as June except June’s ticket becomes invalid. When she is put back on the plane, she finds out that Roy is a rogue spy trying to clear his name. Throughout the movie, June is pulled into tons of crazy situations with Roy right behind her, saving her life. This movie follows a definite formula, but that doesn’t hinder how much I enjoyed this affair.

Cruise is the star of the show. His comedic timing is perfect and he always has that classic Tom Cruise charm to his acting. Whether he is running around a battle, talking to someone else, or even drugging Diaz time and time again, Tom Cruise always makes his character likeable.

Diaz doesn’t play as big of a role as Cruise, but she is still funny. Diaz pulls off the cute and innocent girl with ease, and even though she is getting older, she can still be very attractive (something that is also shown in her recent film, Bad Teacher).

The writing in this movie is great. The film is very fast-paced and newcomer Patrick O’Neill pulls of the romantic-comedy-action genre with style. Every little quip was placed perfectly and every line was spot-on. I never felt like I was cheated out of a good situation. Every time Diaz and Cruise are somewhere, the most is made out of every second they stay in that place. This is largely thanks to the lightning-fast pacing, and although it slows down a bit in the middle, as most movies do, the writing was an amazing mix of three genres.

The direction was also very well-done. James Mangold, the director behind Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and Girl, Interrupted, knows how to make a great action and romance sequence. Every car that flew by, every thing that exploded, and every set piece that flew by was handled with finesse. Whether it was a fistfight in close quarters, or a gun battle in a large area, the direction was always excellent.

Knight and Day may play by a few rules, but the funny writing, the amazing direction, and the charming leads make this movie a joy to watch. 7.5/10

The Losers: A loser of a movie

When I saw the trailer for this movie last year, I didn’t think it looked half bad. But it was then that the reviews came out saying that it was meant for thirteen-year olds and not that good. Being fourteen, I decided to skip it. I recently revisited the movie and am proud to say that the reviews give it more credit than it deserves.

The Losers is about a ragtag gang of men who I think were soldiers. The plot is never truly well explained, but I’ll do the best I can. At one point all of these men are betrayed by their boss, Max, and are thought to be dead by the public. A while later, Zoe Saldana pops in to ask the leader (Jeffery Dean Morgan) if he and his team will track down Max for her. The rest is nonsensical and cliché. From gunfights to more betrayals, this movie follows the book so well I almost predicted every second.

The acting is nothing special. Everyone involved seems to do an alright job. The only standout performer here is Zoe Saldana. She plays the sexy and gunslinging girl well, but doesn’t take it too far. Jeffery Dean Morgan was I name I hadn’t heard. In fact, watching the movie, I thought the actor was Gerard Butler, and that’s just how bad he was. I laughed twice during this movie: One time I chuckled at a joke, the other time was when I broke out laughing due to Butl- sorry I mean Morgan’s horrible delivery during what was supposed to be a serious moment. The rest of the characters and their respective actors are forgettable.

The writing is somewhat off kilter. I felt as if the movie was trying to be juvenile and adult at the same time. There were moments when people were having a serious conversation or a great action sequence, and then someone breaks out a horrible “yo mama” joke. Maybe some pre-teens would laugh at that, but even this youngster had a confused look on his face. The direction in this movie is nothing more than moving the camera around a scene. I swore I was just watching a dream I had when I was twelve, but with awkward camera angles.

The Losers is not a good movie. There are random sensual scenes, people getting shot and then doing parkour stunts, and just plain alright acting. If your kid wants some mindless action, give them this movie and they might be glued to a screen for a mere hour-and-a-half. 3/10

50/50: Funny and Touching

When I saw the trailer for 50/50 I didn’t think it could be done: a comedy about a life-threatening disease that is scaring the whole world. Fortunately, the team behind this movie did very well crafting a story both moving and funny, but like many other movies, it has its faults.

50/50 is about a man named Adam, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who finds out he has cancer. To help him get over his troubles are his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), his psychiatrist Katie (Anna Kendrick), and his girlfriend Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard). During the movie Adam is faced with different obstacles he must overcome. These include telling his parents, regular hospital visits, and psychiatric evaluations. All of this must be done without Adam ever being able to drive a car, as he has never learned. This is a clever element that adds much-needed character interaction and makes for some interesting situations.

Every actor does a commendable job. Seth Rogen plays his character just like he does any other, but he seemed to have more of a charming appeal as Kyle. Rogen usually plays the exact same cookie cutter character, almost like the stoner Michael Cera, but he always does it well, especially with his delivery of the hilarious dialogue.

Anna Kendrick plays her role as the awkward right-out-of-college therapist nicely, helping Levitt out in his troubling times. She is not seen much, but the glimpses given of her are a warm welcome to a mostly depressing time.

Bryce Dallas Howard is a name I had never heard before I saw this movie. The daughter of Ron Howard, a living legend, she does a very good job portraying Gordon-Levitt’s girlfriend. As a matter of fact, I wish there was a little bit more of her in the movie. She was quite a springboard for Gordon-Levitt’s character to jump off of, and there are several scenes when they play off of each other very well.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had the best performance. The audience could tell that he took his character seriously and took time to connect with the script. All of the emotions expected from someone who recently discovered they have cancer come out nicely through Gordon-Levitt. Every up and down throughout the movie can be seen just by looking at his actions.

The writer, Will Reiser, is another name I had never heard of. The only other writing credit he has besides 50/50 is a TV short, but after this movie releases wide I am sure he will be getting a few more things to do. Reiser does an amazing job creating a script that dishes out laughs and touches hearts. Half the movie is spent in laughter, while the other half is spent welling up and actually thinking. The only complaint I could possibly have is that these halves of laughing and crying are slightly uneven. One minute I could be laughing, but the next ten are spent staring tentatively at the screen. For the next twenty minutes, I am once again laughing. There are several scenes where the laughs are nothing more than comedic relief from the seriousness brought along with the film’s premise, and that works well, but there are other scenes in which Reiser doesn’t know whether to make it funny or serious.

The director, Jonathan Levine, has no noticeable directing credit besides the critically acclaimed indie film The Wackness. Levine does a good job with what he has. The camera moves back and forth between the characters almost like a TV show which is typical for an amateur director, but Levine does his best work with the more emotional scenes. Panning views work well along with close-ups of characters at their weakest. It’s not amazing direction, but it is still pretty good.

50/50 is a funny R-rated comedy and should be commended for its balance of emotion and laughter. If you need both a funny and endearing movie that includes R-rated elements 50/50 is your best bet for the summer. 8/10