Catch Me If You Can vs Frank Abagnale

Frank Abagnale Jr became one of the most notorious imposters before the age of 22. He had a career as a con man, check forger, and imposter from the age of 15 to 21. After his parents divorce when he was 16, he ran away from home and truly began his criminal activity. He would write personal checks on overdrawn accounts.

On the left is a young Frank Abagnale Jr, on the right is Leonardo DiCaprio who portrayed him in the film Catch Me If You Can.

This could only work temporarily so he had to figure out a new plan. One of his greatest cons was pretending to be a Pan Am Pilot and cashing fake checks. He created a FAA license and was on his way. He flew around the country and cashed fake checks.

Here is his pilots license

Abagnale would overwrite checks and move on before authorities could catch up to him. He pretended to be both a doctor and a Lawyer, going so far as to pass the bar exam. Eventually, he was caught and he began to work for the FBI.

The real Frank Abagnale says the film staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks is "80% accurate". The film did not get the timeline exactly correct and left out when he was a professor at a university. Another was his escape on the airplane, he did not hide in a toilet. He escaped through the area on the plane where food comes on and off the plane. While this story as a whole is fascinating and true, the details of it were embellished in the book written about the story, and later the film. Details about his family were also altered. He did not see his father after he ran away, however Spielberg felt this would add to the story. He was not an only child but he was in the film.

When reading about this story and watching the film, the viewer is left wondering how a kid from the age of 15-21 could get away with so much. The embellishment of the story as a whole helped to create a more entertaining and intriguing plot, but you have to wonder why they did not stick to the facts. The fact is that a child managed to become one of the most infamous con men for multiple years. He managed to steal a large sum of money, pass the bar, pretend to be a pilot, professor, and doctor, and escape from jail. These are shocking feats on their own, but when you take into account his age and how long he got away with it, the feat is even more impressive. While the reason for the embellishment of the film is confusing, it seems as though it was to dramaticize and already dramatic event that occurred. This makes sense for the sake of making an entertaining film, however, it leaves the viewer unsure what is real and what is "made for the movie". Overall the film does its job, it tells a story that many are unfamiliar with so that they will go and learn about it for themselves.