Catch Me If You Can - The Art of Deception

Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?
Frank Abagnale, Jr.: Cause they have Mickey Mantle?
Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.

The dialogue simply means that the Yankees always win because the opposing team is so distracted by the uniforms worn by the Yankees, in this case the pinstripes, that they are unable to focus on playing good baseball. It’s not the strength of the players, it’s the deception of the uniform that wins the day. There’s actually a whole study of sports on how teams and players use things like this to win. This is using deception as a tool to win the battle. Just like Sun Tzu says in his book “The Art of War,” “All warfare is based on deception.” 

In Catch Me If You Can, all of Frank Abaganale Jr’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) life is deception. Spurred by a family crisis Frank runs full speed (literally) into deception. Hoping to use money, power, and success to bring everyone back together again. Deception is the key to win the battle and heal the family. 

The movie is actually based on the bizarre true story of Frank Abignail Jr. who conned his way into many professions and millions of dollars from age 16-25. I won’t give away the real story since it gives away the movie. But at the end of the day, while deception can win the battle it doesn’t ultimately win the war. What wins the war is honesty. Truth triumphs over deceit. 

One final note. Cinematography always catches my eye. What struck me most about this movie was the use of zoom lenses. In many shots the lens zooms in or out as a means of revealing a scene or situation. The audience thinks they’re seeing something and then the lens zooms out to reveal the context. I thought it was just incredible how that connected with the theme of deception.