See, when you see the words “Steven Spielberg” flash across your movie screen, you basically already have an entire load of expectations that he is either about to meet or disappoint in terribly. In this case, this film fell somewhere in between, because I honestly don’t know what to say about this film.
Was the film fun to watch? If you can suspend disbelief, which shouldn’t be that difficult since the film is set in the 60s, which is now about 80 years ago and anyone who is old enough to remember the 60s in vivid detail is probably not going to be watching this film now. As a person who has never seen the 20th century, it wasn’t hard for me to believe that in the 60s they didn’t have technology to track calls or any of the other stuff we see on TV so often now. So the film was fun to watch.
Did I get anything new from the film? I mean, I already knew divorce is hard on the kid. Of course, most kids just have a cry and carry scars into their adulthood. Most kids don’t go on an international crime streak, so there’s that. But at the same time, the fact that he is a kid is what makes him sympathetic, and it’s why people are willing to forgive him. I also already knew the importance of parental impact on children. I mean, I’m a kid, and I think I’m self aware enough that when I go through my weekly psychoanalysis session writing fanfiction I’m pretty well aware that my parents have made me the person that I am. So did I really learn anything new? No. Not really. Was the message really different? No. I mean, if you want divorce stories, you can always go watch Cinderella. Or any Disney film, if you really think about it. If you want kid being impacted by parents, you could always go watch Harry Potter.
The film had many scenes that I think are worth analyzing, and the idea that Frank parrots about how having confidence and the right distractions is enough to make anyone believe anything and enough to change the tide is interesting in it of itself. And do I think this film was a failure? No. It just wasn’t what I expected from a Steven Spielberg film, but that’s more on me than on him. It’s a decent film. It’s not extraordinary, but then again, few films are. So would I recommend it to a friend, if they were bored and wanted to watch something? Yes. Yes I would.
So yeah. I have a hard time believing anyone could escape from an airplane through the bathroom, but hey. If the man can hold his breath enough to do it, who am I to judge? (Also, this film is not a true story. Unfortunately. It was a true story when it first came out, and then recent investigations into the real Frank’s life have basically shown that he was lying about most things. In that way, ironically, he actually becomes much more like the genius 16-year-old con that he pretended to be, because he has definitely gotten his share of things from this lie that he has weaved, book deals and a movie being the least of it.)
Happy Thursday!!
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