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Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo
DiCaprio),
15 years old, lives happily in 1963 New Rochelle, New York with his
father Frank Abagnale Sr (Christopher Walken), and French mother Paula
(Nathalie
Baye). When a loan for Frank Sr. is denied at Chase Manhattan Bank, due
to a series of IRS tax frauds by Frank Sr, the family is forced to move
from their grand home to a small apartment. Paula carries on an affair
with Jack (James Brolin), a friend of her husband. In the meantime,
Frank poses as a substitute teacher in his French class. Shortly,
Frank's parents file for divorce, and Frank, scared, runs away. When he
runs out of money, he begins to use confidence scams. Frank's cons grow
ever bolder and he even impersonates an airline pilot. He forges
Lufthansa & Pan Am payroll checks and succeeds in stealing more
than $2.8 million.
Meanwhile Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks),
an FBI bank fraud
agent, begins to track down Frank with little help from his superiors.
Carl and Frank meet in a hotel, where Frank convinces Carl his name is
Barry Allen of the Secret Service. Frank leaves, with Carl angrily
fooled. Later, at Christmas, Carl is still working when Frank calls
him, attempting to apologize for duping Carl. Carl rejects his apology
and tells him that he will soon be caught, but laughs when he realizes
that Frank actually called him because he has no one else to talk to.
Frank hangs up, and Carl continues to investigate. At a restaurant, a
waiter points out to Carl that Frank's false name, "Barry Allen", is
from The Flash comic books. Carl then realizes that Frank is probably a
teenager.
Frank, meanwhile, has not only
switched to becoming a doctor and a Louisiana lawyer, but has also
fallen in love with a girl named Brenda (Amy Adams). Carl tracks him to
his engagement party where Frank admits the truth about himself to
Brenda and asks her to run away with him. As he escapes, he asks Brenda
to meet him in two days so they can elope.
At the airport, Frank sees her waiting as agreed, but he spots FBI
agents everywhere and realizes that he has been set up (with Brenda as
the bait) and escapes on a flight to Europe. Seven months later, Carl
shows his boss that Frank has been forging checks all over the world
and that he is out of control. He wants permission to fly to Europe to
look for him. When his boss denies him the permission, Carl takes
Frank’s checks to professional printers who deem that they
were printed in France. Remembering that Frank’s mother,
Paula, was born in Montrichard, France, Carl goes there where he finds
Frank. He tells him the French police will kill him if he does not go
with Carl quietly. Frank assumes he is joking, but Carl assures Frank
he would never lie to him, and Carl takes him outside, where the French
police escort him to prison. Carl promises to have him extradited to
the U.S.
The scene then flashes forward to a
plane returning Frank to the U.S. from France. Carl informs him that
his father has died. Consumed with grief, Frank escapes through the
bathroom plumbing and out the landing gear when the plane lands in New
York. He goes back to his old house, where he sees his mother and Jack
Barnes, as well as a little girl that Frank realizes is his
half-sister. Frank gives up and is sentenced to prison, getting
occasional visits from Carl. When Frank easily points out how one of
the checks Carl is carrying as evidence is fake, Carl gets an idea and
calls for an interview with the FBI. At the interview, the FBI informs
Frank that he can serve out the remainder of his sentence working in
the FBI's bank fraud department, under Carl’s custody, to
which Frank accepts. Though somewhat content, Frank still misses the
thrill of the chase and attempts to be a pilot again. Carl catches him,
but lets him fly anyway, remarking "sometimes it's easier living the
lie," and says he knows Frank will be back, as no-one is chasing him.
On Monday, though delayed, Frank does
return, and finally reveals to Carl that not all of his careers were
cons—Frank passed the Louisiana Bar exam by studying for it
for two weeks. The epilogue shows that Frank is happily married with
three sons, lives in the Midwest, and is still good friends with Carl.
Frank has helped catch some of the world's most elusive money forgers
and earns millions creating unforgeable checks.
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