Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks on the set of 'Catch Me If You Can'

Catch Me If You Can is the unbelievable-if-it-weren't-true story of Frank W. Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a precocious con artist who was traumatized by his parents' divorce, ran away from home, and successfully passed himself off as a doctor, lawyer and even a co-pilot for Pan Am, all before turning 21. Oh yeah, and along the way Frank also learned to make money the really old-fashioned way, by printing it himself.

As playfully played by DiCaprio, it's easy to root for young Abagnale as his self-taught skill at check fraud earns him millions in cunningly ill-gotten greenbacks and affords him all the lusty luxuries a mischievous man in his position could desire. Of course, it's not long before Frank's handiwork also earns him the less-forgiving attention of the FBI. Enter Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who is repeatedly and humorously (for the audience anyway) humiliated by the chameleon-like teen's ability to elude justice. Not content to let his reputation around the Bureau fly away with the next 707 to France, Carl makes it his life's assignment to bring Abagnale in, preferably alive. And so the paper chase begins. Surprisingly, however, over time Hanratty grows to respect Frank's talents and sympathize with the whiz kid's broken home life.

A kilo of kudos is due Spielberg and his DreamWorks dream team. Steven assembled a consummate ensemble cast and crew for Catch Me, including another Academy Award winner, Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale Sr. The elder Abagnale, now a failed business owner and in his own trouble for tax fraud, was once a decorated World War II hero, who met his future ex-wife Nathalie Baye while helping to liberate France. Walken, convincing as ever in his usual slightly shell-shocked role, eloquently evokes the frustration of Frank Sr., a hero overseas who couldn't cut a piece of the American dream for himself back home.

Behind the scenes, high esteem is also owed to Catch Me If You Can's production designer Jeannine Oppewall, and Spielberg's longtime collaborators: cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and composer John Williams. Together they capture the iridescent colors, lounge-inspired sounds and madcap mood of the 1960s, a time at once innocent and eager to know too much. It's the perfect backdrop for Abagnale's adventures which, even at nearly two-and-a-half hours, are over too soon. All of this surprised even a hard-boiled adrenaline addict like myself, who thought Spielberg hadn't signed off on a good movie since Jaws bit off a piece of box-office history twenty-five years ago. Now a generation later with Catch Me If You Can (based on the real-life Abagnale biography of the same name), Spielberg has again captured intelligent imaginations with this modern morality tale about a bad boy who eventually makes good – and a good living too. In an ironic twist of fate worthy of A Clockwork Orange, the real Frank now forges a fine multi-figure salary as a security consultant specializing in financial fraud. So, if it's a quirky, quality cool time you're in the mood for, kick the hobbit and grab hold of Catch Me If You Can, as soon as you can.