From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"Catch Me If You Can" is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air in the realm of biographical films.

Generally speaking, biographical films often focus on the life of a person, while also having to cover a long period of time and numerous events. A slight oversight can turn it into a formulaic, monotonous account, evolving into another kind of uninteresting cliché.

Many directors believe that biographical films are the most boring genre, yet they are produced in batches every year because the old academic judges of the academy like them.

Thus, in 2010, when "The Social Network," a biographical film that subverted the genre and tradition, was released, it caused an uproar both inside and outside the industry; but at the same time, it also aroused the resentment of the old academic judges of the academy because it was too shocking, leading to its loss to the steady and conventional "The King's Speech" at the Oscars the following year—

Another biographical film.

From this perspective, Steven's keen eye in choosing David Fincher to direct "Catch Me If You Can" is indeed a testament to his discerning judgment.

Although the combination of David Fincher and "Catch Me If You Can" did not materialize, "Catch Me If You Can" did break the genre limitations nine years before "The Social Network."

Perhaps Steven's directing style lacks David's sharpness and edge, but the story of "Catch Me If You Can" itself breaks the conventions of biographical films—

The root lies in the character of Frank Abagnale Jr.

An unbelievable criminal experience, a colorful and undulating life journey, a scarred and unbearable childhood memory. Against this background, Steven keenly captured the absence of the Abagnale father-son relationship and cleverly transferred it to the FBI agent who pursued Frank, ultimately evolving the biographical film into a brand new genre.

A crime film based on family relationships and the search for one's roots.

"Catch Me If You Can" is undoubtedly excellent, wonderful, and surprising.

In fact, the film did achieve very impressive results after its release, with both box office and awards success, not only achieving remarkable box office numbers in North America and globally, but also earning multiple nominations at the Oscars and Golden Globes.

Of course, a major factor in the film's box office success lies in the two leading actors—

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

According to the original historical trajectory, Leonardo eventually caught up with the schedule after much back and forth, and rejoined the crew because Steven was in charge of directing, which also contributed to the global box office success of "Catch Me If You Can."

After all, in the present day, Leonardo is an undisputed box office superstar.

If we were to discuss the film's shortcomings, it would be that the film's own entertainment popcorn attribute is too strong, leaving no room for the actors to shine with their acting skills, so that neither Leonardo nor Tom Hanks had much room to play, relying solely on personal charm to support the characters. As a result, it did not receive much recognition in terms of acting during the later awards season.

But this shortcoming, for Anson, is precisely an advantage.

The reason is very simple: Anson is still in the process of learning and studying acting. If it were really a role that required a great explosion of acting skills, it is estimated that Anson really couldn't handle it. Something like now, combining his own charm and injecting some personal understanding and interpretation to create sparks for the character, is just right; the character attribute between commercial and artistic can also become Anson's perfect next choice after "Spider-Man."

In addition, there is one more point, not an objective analysis, but Anson's own subjective feeling.

A small regret in "Catch Me If You Can," Leonardo's performance.

In his youth, Leonardo was a talented and gifted actor; but after the incredible frenzy of "Titanic," Leonardo had more thoughts about life, career, and himself, so that his understanding of acting slowly began to change.

Frank Abagnale Jr. in "Catch Me If You Can" is a teenage genius. He was only fifteen years old when he committed his first crime, and by the age of eighteen, he was already able to deceive the world and navigate the adult world with ease, while Leonardo was already twenty-seven years old when he played this role.

Of course, during this period, Leonardo was still at the peak of his appearance, even adding some charm to the youthfulness of the "Titanic" period, undoubtedly shining on the big screen, but Leonardo's performance slowly became deep and contrived, although it was not obvious at this time, it also made the young Frank appear too mature and worldly.

Among them, a very important reason also lies in Leonardo's schedule—

He had just finished filming "Gangs of New York," in which he wore a beard and slicked-back hair, playing the son of a legendary gangster, who, after his father's death, bore the responsibility of revenge.

This is a role of enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens, officially starting Leonardo's later series of frowning roles, leading Leonardo into the frown trap of stereotyped and patterned performances, the more he tried to break through himself, the more easily he overexerted himself.

Then, in a blink of an eye, Leonardo seamlessly entered the "Catch Me If You Can" crew, he had to quickly switch to the state of a fifteen-year-old boy, undoubtedly, this was difficult, the difficulty was beyond imagination.

Deep.

Contrived.

Worldly.

These qualities that should not have appeared on Frank Abagnale Jr. also became a flaw in the character shaping of the film, which is really regrettable—

It's not to say that Leonardo's performance was not good, but to say that Anson might be able to reinterpret it according to his own understanding and inject different colors.

From any point of view, Anson has no reason to refuse "Catch Me If You Can."

What's more, to take a step back, the two names Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are already enough, this is the reason for joining "Catch Me If You Can"—

No, it should be the reason for striving to join.

Now Anson only has an audition opportunity.

Anson should slightly change his thinking, not to be guided by the idea of "defeating Leonardo to win the role," but to focus on "proving that he is suitable for Frank Abagnale Jr.," and comprehensively construct his audition.

But, will things really go as Anson wishes?

Obviously not.

Originally, Anson was thinking that the next meeting might be a dinner occasion; or it might be a formal audition, where he should show the characteristics of Frank Abagnale Jr.; however, he never expected that Steven and Tom would appear again at an unexpected occasion and at an unexpected time.

Dior show at Paris Fashion Week in 2001.

"Anson," Edgar was also a little nervous, "Steven and Tom have appeared, and they are seated in the front row. Anna is accompanying them."