Spielberg's 'Catch'
"Catch Me If You Can" stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. The film tells the true story of con artist Frank Abagnale Jr.'s five-year odyssey stealing millions of dollars by writing bad checks while eluding the FBI. Director Steven Spielberg says when he met Abagnale, he knew this was a man who could get whatever he wanted.
"He was charming, and you would buy snake oil from him and think it was the fountain of youth," says Spielberg with a laugh. "You know, and that's what was so amazing about him."
The director says he first heard the story on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."
"Here, this young man came on after serving time in federal penitentiary and doing all the other stuff he did to talk to Johnny Carson about his true life adventures. And I think Carson was the one who put him on the map," Spielberg says.
The ads about the film indicate that it's about the chase, but Spielberg says at the core of the movie is an emotional and powerful story.
"That's the very hard thing to sell. But it is a cat and mouse game. You know, it's a very, very tricky chase movie between a very tenacious FBI agent, who himself becomes a father figure, after Leo runs away from home after his parents are divorced. Which echoes, I think, how Frank feels about his family and about his life. But at the same time, you know, it is a kind of story about how a young boy creates a world for himself that no one's ever seen before," Spielberg explains.
What is personal for Spielberg about the film is the divorce issue. Not only his parents were divorced, but Hanks' and DiCaprio's parents as well, he notes.
"This is, once again, a story about the effects of a broken home. And in this case, a broken home was almost inspirational to Frank. But (it) also weighed heavily on his heart for the rest of his life, and, I think, informed everything he ever did to get it all back for what had been taken away, you know, from his father by the government. And so, you know, divorce, I think, is the touchstone for me," Spielberg says.
"Every child of divorce, when they're young, believes that it's possible to put their parents back together. I actually did put my mom and dad back together again as friends. Just through my movies and through loving them both, I was able to get them to spend a lot of time together with me as I grew up, even though they were apart. And so I think it's achievable. And I think that was the wish and the hope in Frank's heart, that he could do that," he continues.
As for the directing, Spielberg says, with stars like DiCaprio and Hanks, telling them what to do is a job he does effortlessly. Though one director said the most important part of directing is casting, every director needs to tell actors what he wants.
"It's what the whole medium's about," he says. "Even a first-time director. You'd be amazed at how a big movie star working with a first-time director will actually fasten every ounce of attention on what that director has to say to them, because actors need direction. And directors need direction. And so it's really a wonderful collaboration."
Still, Spielberg says he always feels the pressure. "I'm just a man making movies. I think when I make a movie with too much confidence I missed a lot of opportunities. And when I walk into a story not completely confident, I just look at every single corner of the room to figure out where I should put the camera, and where the light should come from, where the actors should stand. It just infuses me with a lot more inspiration when I'm not 100 percent confident."
As for working with DiCaprio and Hanks, Spielberg says it is just like butter. "It's like butter in a microwave for 30 seconds. You know, that kind of great butter. With that great texture, you know? That's what it was like working with Leo and Tom. They're like butter," he says with a laugh.