History Film / CatchMeIfYouCan

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The toughest con Frank faces in the film turns out to be his very first one after running away from home; trying to get banks to accept his check. With no pre-established credit it turns out no matter what sob story he creates for himself, no bank is willing to cash his check on blind faith alone.
** Frank at his engagement party, upon seeing the FBI storming the premises, runs after confessing to Brenda that he's lied to her about everything, but he loves her and wants to build a new life with her. He gives her enough money to buy a plane ticket in Miami, and asks her to run away with him in a few days. The FBI then enters the room where they were talking just as he hightails it out of the window. A heartbroken Brenda, who learns that her fiance was a teenager several years younger than her, is forced to cooperate with the FBI at the Miami International Airport to catch Frank, or else face prison time in turn. There is also the fact that he lied to her about who he was, which puts a damper on their relationship.
** After travelling around Europe and America committing large scale check fraud, Frank is eventually caught and thrown into a French HellHolePrison. He gets an IToldYouSo from Hanratty.

** Frank's family filed a missing persons report but basically continue with their lives as they were, despite the fact that he only had $25 to live on and they had no idea where he was. Frank's mother even tells Carl that Frank's thievery in order to live on his own was preferably to something far more nefarious in her mind like drugs. This was in line with the values at the time when FreeRangeChildren was more acceptable and kids often set out from home while they were minors.

** Frank's family apparently didn't call the cops when he ran away, despite the fact that he only had $25 to live on and they had no idea where he was. This was in line with the values at the time when FreeRangeChildren was more acceptable and kids often set out from home while they were minors.

It's BasedOnATrueStory, and the real Frank Abagnale Jr. was on hand as a consultant and was enthusiastic about its production. Or at least, that's what it was billed as. While Abagnale Jr. was indeed a ConMan in RealLife, [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie much of his autobiography is either embellished or made up from whole cloth]]. Ironically, this might make him the ultimate con man in the sense that he fooled millions of people as to just how succesful a con man he really was.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: A lot of the movie embroiders Abagnale's memoir--the fraught relationship with his father is fictional, Brenda is a composite of two different people described in Abagnale's book, etc. But later research has shown that most everything that the movie ''did'' take from Abagnale's book, in fact the whole book, is essentially made up. Abagnale never impersonated a doctor (at a hospital, at least [[note]]The real Abagnale once infiltrated the University of Arizona by pretending to be a doctor hired by Pan-Am to perform physical examinations on women interested in becoming flight attendants; he did "examinations" (read: sexual assault) on twelve women before he was found out.[[/note]]). He never took the bar exam in Louisiana or practiced law. He didn't escape custody by climbing out of an airplane toilet--that's physically impossible. He never worked for the FBI as a consultant in fighting check forgery. While he did sometimes wear a pilot's uniform as part of his check kiting, he did not use it to hitch plane rides around the world. And he was convicted of forging not up to $4 million in checks, but only $1,448.60. Wikipedia has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale#Veracity_of_claims much more]] about this.\\

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: A lot of the movie embroiders Abagnale's memoir--the fraught relationship with his father is fictional, Brenda is a composite of two different people described in Abagnale's book, etc. But later research has shown that most everything that the movie ''did'' take from Abagnale's book, in fact the whole book, is essentially made up. Abagnale never impersonated a doctor (at a hospital, at least [[note]]The real Abagnale once infiltrated the University of Arizona by pretending to be a doctor hired by Pan-Am to perform physical examinations on women interested in becoming flight attendants; he did "examinations" (read: sexual assault) on twelve women before he was found out.[[/note]]). He never took the bar exam in Louisiana or practiced law. He didn't escape custody by climbing out of an airplane toilet--that's physically impossible. He never worked for the FBI as a consultant in fighting check forgery. While he did sometimes wear a pilot's uniform as part of his check kiting, he did not use it to hitch plane rides around the world. And he was convicted of forging not up to $4 million in checks, but only $1,448.60. Wikipedia has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale#Veracity_of_claims much more]] about this.
** Perhaps the biggest example is that Abagnale is depicted pulling off most or all of his scams in TheSixties when he's under 21. He was actually incarcerated at Great Meadow Prison in Comstock, New York, for three years from 1965 at age 17 until December 1968. He was then arrested for theft in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in February 1969, where he was sentenced to probation that June and fled to Europe, where he was arrested in September for theft, sentenced to several months in prison in France and Sweden and deported back to the United States in June 1970.

Frank Abagnale Jr. is a teenager in 1960s New York whose humdrum life is disturbed when his father goes bankrupt and his parents divorce. Frank, who has already shown a talent for mimicry, embarks on a new life as a teenaged [[ConMan con artist]], passing himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor ''and'' a lawyer while he's still too young to drink. It's BasedOnATrueStory, and the real Frank Abagnale Jr. was on hand as a consultant and was enthusiastic about its production.

* SickCaptiveScam: DoubleSubverted. When Hanratty arrives at the run-down French prison to extradite Frank to the United States, he assumes that Frank's uncontrollable coughing is just him acting in order to attempt another escape. He's legitimately ill and has to be taken to the hospital after he collapses in front of Hanratty. He does attempt to escape while there, but he doesn't get any further than the end of the block before he collapses again. The cops don't even bother running to catch him; they walk up to him coolly and put a gun to his head.

* QuackDoctor: Frank Abagnale is a teenage con artist who poses as having several professions throughout the film including a doctor. He gets away with it for a while by working as a supervisor who spends most of time behind a desk and letting the residents make the real diagnoses. However, being confronted with genuine medical emergencies causes him to realize that he can't continue the scam without potentially ''killing'' someone, so he hastily jumps into a less dangerous line of work.

* QuackDoctor: Frank Abagnale is a teenage con artist who poses as having several professions throughout the film including a doctor. He gets away with it for a while by working as a supervisor who spends most of time behind a desk and letting the residents make the real diagnoses. However, being confronted with genuine medical emergencies quickly causes him to realize that he can't continue the scam without potentially ''killing'' someone, so he jumps into a less dangerous line of work.

* QuackDoctor: Frank Abagnale is a teenage con artist who poses as having several professions throughout the film including a doctor.

** In the opening prologue where Carl prepares Frank for extradition, he thinks an ailing Frank is playing a SickCaptiveScam until Frank slumps to the floor, seemingly unconscious and spurring Carl to call for medical help. When everyone's eyes are briefly off Frank in the infirmary, he uses the attempt to escape (although doesn't get very far because he actually ''is'' sick at the moment); while the guards chase after him, Carl takes a moment to chuckle to himself at Frank pulling one over on him again.

** After seemingly losing Frank going off the grid in Europe, Carl takes one of Frank's recent checks to printing experts, who note that the machine being used is a "dinosaur" used in only a handful of regions, including France. Carl suddenly remembers that Frank's mother spoke of meeting Frank Sr. at a village in France, and luckily for Carl, one of his agents took copious notes of the conversation, including the location, Montrichard.

* EurekaMoment: When Frank first meets Hanratty, he is masquerading as Secret Service agent "Barry Allen." Later, a kid points out that "Barry Allen" is the alter ego of comic book superhero Franchise/TheFlash, which makes Hanratty realize that Frank, despite his looks, is just a kid himself.

** "Two little mice...", a mini-fable that both Franks rely on, including Frank Jr. passing it off as a religious prayer at the Strong dinner table.

** "Is this yours?", the opening line of a BuyThemOff con the Abagnales pull on female marks, pulling out a gold necklace they just happen to have in their pocket and noting that "it must've slipped right off your neck."

* SexyStewardess: To complete his impersonation of an airline pilot, Frank hires pretty young women to pose as flight attendants. He told the girls they had won an internship to train as stewardesses. He engineered the whole scheme in order to be able to enter an airport crammed with FBI agents looking for him and walk RightUnderTheirNoses - knowing that they would [[DistractedByTheSexy never notice him with all those beautiful, vivacious young girls surrounding him!]] And as a RefugeInAudacity, knowing that the FBI agents would never suspect the conman sneaking into the airport to be '''the most obvious freaking guy in the place'''.

** Frank refuses to believe he can't fix his family despite everyone telling him it's over, and is convinced his mom will come back if he gets all the money and luxury their family had before the IRS nailed Frank Sr. When Frank sees his father for the first time after running away, Frank Sr. says his ex-wife will no longer speak to him. When they meet again, she's remarried. By the time he goes to her home while on the run, [[spoiler: he sees she's had another child and seemingly moved on beyond Frank Jr.; coupled with learning of his father's recent death]], Frank Jr. finally lets the truth seek in and lets Carl take him in knowing his old life is truly gone.

** "Two little mice..."
** "Even better."
** "Why do the Yankees always win?"
** "Is this yours?"

* SanitySlippage: When Carl corners Frank in Montrichard, France, knowing he's living off the grid running out of money and resources for more checks, Frank is no longer a smooth conman living in luxury, but holed up in a warehouse, disheveled and uncharacteristically frantic, desperately struggling to find a way to talk himself out of capture.

** Frank himself demonstrates a highly acute attention to detail throughout the film, leading to how he's a quick study in self-taught forgery. He starts early in the film with informing a classmate that her fake "note from mother" is missing a crease to be believable.
** When Carl brings his boss to see Frank in prison, they give him some samples of checks to test his ability to spot fakes. He barely glances at the first one before setting it aside and saying it's a fake. Carl's boss protests that he didn't even look at it, and Frank rattles off a resume of everything that's wrong with the check that disqualifies it from being real.

* SherlockScan: A non-visual example in Hanratty being able to discern clues of Frank's whereabouts from his telephone calls; e.g. he figures out Frank's from New York from his mention of the Yankees, and that he's a kid from his use of the alias [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry Allen]].
** Frank himself demonstrates a highly acute attention to detail throughout the film, starting with informing a classmate that her fake "note from mother" is missing a crease to be believable.

* BrokenAesop: Frank watching Brenda's parents flirting in the kitchen, wistfully recalling his own parents before their divorce. Poignant and heartwarming - until you remember they threw their daughter to the street for having an abortion after being raped by her father's friend who plays golf.

* TaughtByExperience: Frank learning how to forge checks. He's stymied early on as a runaway trying to get by on bad checks that immediately bounce, but as he goes along, he learns the ins and outs of checks (including how they're cashed and how they're made) and hones his ability in forgery and how to cover his tracks. By the time he's imprisoned two years later, he already knows more about a fraudulent check on sight than the FBI agents paid on the subject simply from his personal experience.

* TaughtByExperience: Frank's life as a con man. He's stymied early on as a runaway trying to get by on bad checks, but as he goes along, he learns the ins and outs of checks (including how they're cashed and how they're made) and hones his ability in forgery. By the time he's imprisoned two years later, he already knows more about a fraudulent check on sight than the FBI agents paid on the subject simply from his personal experience.

* TitleDrop: Sort of. "You gotta catch me." Played straight in "Live in Living Color", the opening number of the musical "Mix and match me / Try to ''catch me if you can''".

* TitleDrop: Sort of. "You gotta catch me."

* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Inverted. The French police actually seem very gung-ho about shooting Abagnale on sight. In fact, the French in general have a sense of national pride at least as intense as the [[EagleLand American one]]. As such, they're pretty incensed that an American ConMan like Frank thinks nothing of stealing their money and embarrassing them.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Frank convinces people that he is a working professional in a variety of careers while still being just a teenager. After his first meeting with Frank, Hanratty pegs him in his mid-to-late twenties. This also helps justify the DawsonCasting of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio.

** Pan-American Airways is constantly referred to as Pan Am, complete with its iconic logo. Pan American Airways was abbreviated as PAA until the Pan Am logo was introduced in 1972.