After the divorce of his parents, Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) begins a life as a successful con artist by impersonating a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer.
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I'm not sure if Steven Spielberg set out to chronicle the the 1960's American zeitgeist with this film, but all the sign posts are there. We begin in 1963 (the year of the Kennedy assassination) with the dissolution of the happy 1950s American family. And though he doesn't attend Woodstock or join a commune, Frank is just as adrift in this new world as the rest of his Baby-Boomer brethren. He is continually and desperately trying to get back to that time when he was safe and all was right in the universe. And while the film ends in 1969, it foreshadows the 80s when all of the wild kids would settle down, become yuppies and work for "the man". It's pretty brilliant allegory. Or maybe Spielberg was just trying to make fun caper film? Or a film about his parents' divorce? Well, regardless of intention, the resultant film is pretty nifty stuff.
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