Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The true story of a real fake.
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 16 December 2002 |
| Genre | Drama, Crime |
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Starring | Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken |
| Runtime | 141 min |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 7.9/10 · Metacritic 75/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 96% · TMDB users 8.0/10 |
| Budget | $52 million |
| Box office | $352 million worldwide |
Where to watch Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is streaming on Paramount+ ($13.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Peacock ($16.99 a month). If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Paramount+ is $13.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 12 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
What kind of watch this is
Steven Spielberg directs this 2002 drama, but the real engine is the cat-and-mouse game between a charming young con artist and the FBI agent assigned to catch him. It runs 141 minutes, which is plenty of time to watch a man forge checks, pilot planes, and dress up as a doctor with zero remorse. The tone is light, almost playful, until you realize the stakes are real prison time. It is a smooth, well-oiled machine that makes crime look like a party you want to crash. The only rule is that you cannot look away.
What the critics said
Critics largely agreed this was a smooth ride. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 96% Tomatometer score as of January 2026, based on 203 reviews. Metacritic assigns it a 75, which it labels generally favorable. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "an effortlessly watchable one." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted the film's "brisk tempo." Not everyone was charmed. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone found the runtime "bogged down," comparing the pacing to a winded tortoise. The numbers suggest a film that knows exactly what it is.
How it did with audiences
It cost $52 million and pulled in $352 million worldwide, a 7x return that Hollywood calls a hit and accountants call a miracle. The film opened in second place behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a rivalry that feels less like competition and more like a shared universe. On TMDB, users rate it 8 out of 10, a score that suggests audiences remembered the con while the industry remembered the cost.
What came next for the cast
DiCaprio arrived fresh off Titanic and Romeo + Juliet, then pivoted toward Inception and Django Unchained. Hanks, coming from Forrest Gump and The Green Mile, continued with The Terminal and Sully. Walken moved from Pulp Fiction to Man on Fire and later Dune: Part Two. Martin Sheen, having starred in Apocalypse Now and Gandhi, appeared in The Departed and The Amazing Spider-Man. The credits list the sequence, not the causality. They document what followed.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Catch Me If You Can.
Sources
- Catch Me If You Can on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q208108 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Catch Me If You Can” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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