Catch Me If You Can

If you can get past some of that good old fashioned 80s cheesiness (and there's plenty of it, thanks to a 'PG' rating), then you're left with what actually wasn't a bad drama. It is more like an 80s version of some of those old rebel teen speedway junkies movies complete with leather jackets and fast cars that you see in the 50s. You know, 'Rebel Without a Cause,' and all of that.

In this movie, a rather pristine high school girl tries to raise $200,000 to save her school, Cathedral High, from being shut down by the county because of lack of funds. If they get the cash, the school board will match them for the rest. Enter Dylan, a bad ass with a bad haircut who is going to help save the day. In place of detention, he is sentenced to help out with the 'fund-drive' (fundraiser for us modern Yankee blokes). Knowing that without the help of the rest of the student body, the girl isn't going to make that kind of cash from selling prom tickets or hosting bake sales. So, he convinces her to do what anyone in her situation should do: bet it all on him in a drag race. And though reluctant at first, it doesn't take but one win to get her hyped on gambling.

Only, when the duo manages to make $100,000 in a bet for double or nothing, Dylan loses the race and, consequently all of the money. Now, desperate to make it all back in a pretty serious bet with a somewhat harmless bookie called The Fat Man (Emmett Walsh), he has to try to win it all back. You should know how the story goes and what to expect. But, if you like fast cherry cars, then it's a good one to catch. I might think it better than it actually is since I saw it after immediately after watching two lame movies (The Allnighter and Ski School). So, what have you got to lose besides a hundred and six minutes (if you watch all the credits)?

The plot of this film is not strong at all, lots of holes. If you approach it as a car movie its not bad, lots of great cars in this one. The reason I like it is because I am from the area where this was filmed. I get the most enjoyment looking at the recognizable places in St. Cloud MN and seeing how the town has changed since 89. Its an interesting historical piece for us locals. Seems like whenever a film is made here everyone wants some relationship to it. It is impossible to find a copy in any of the local video stores as they were all stolen once it came out on VHS. Had to get a copy from Japan on Ebay I find it interesting how the path of the drag race is all over town. I didn't know the director was from St.Cloud.

This film has been receiving a lot of play lately during the day on either HBO or Cinemax. The reason is that they are assuming people would be interested in comparing it to the Leonardo DiCaprio/Tom Hanks caper of the same name. The only reason to see it is for the attractive Matt Lattanzi. Yum! Although I must say Matt was more than a little long in the tooth to be playing a high schooler. If he were a woman, they'd have had him playing the MOTHER of a high schooler! (Is is just me, or is his daughter starting to look like Shelley Duvall?) Oh yeah, the plot--who cares? Typical teen highjinx played by adults.

Wow! I remember so many awful films that loosely revolved around high school from the early 1980s. They usually had someincredibly strained plot and lots of 27 year old actors pretending to be students. As I watched this film I felt a little of the nostalgia of growing up in the 1980s. However, then I find out that this film was made in 1989? Say what! Well, the nostalgia factor ends right there, this is just bad. The plot has the city preparing to close a high school and threatening to bus all of the students to inner city high schools. Which is odd, in that the students at this school are both wealthy and abundant. In fact, the main character lives in a mansion. Makes you wonder how they cannot find money to keep this school alive, have they never heard of property taxes. Oh, but here is the kicker. The school board says that they will keep the school alive, if the students can raise $200,000. So the seniors go about doing this. Hmmm, you raise $200,000 but instead of saving that for college, you put it towards saving the high school that you are a Senior in? And why exactly would they close an overpopulated school before the year is out? And...ahh forget it, this film was stupid and made in 1989!?

Catch Me...if You Can's story doesn't make a lot of sense, the class president of a high school gets the local race king to race to save the school that's going to close down. But they loose all the money and get into a timed race across town like a local legend "Fast Freddie" did back in the day. Yeah. But the movie has a fun, goofy tone and is sort of a send up of 50's Hot Rod pictures, like "The Wild Ride," none of the young actors are particularly good, and everything about them screams the 80's but Geoffrey Lewis is always fun to watch, not to mention M. Emmet Walsh. It's directed by Stephen Summers of "The Mummy" and "Van Helsing" fame, which is interesting since pretty much all of his films hark back to a different old genre, "The Mummy" was classic movie serials and horror, "Van Helsing" was Hammer films, and Catch Me if You Can did Hot Rod flicks. But The Cars are the stars, the main guy drives a sweet '68 Chevelle takes the main role for much of the racing scenes, as it faces a beautiful orange and white '69 Camaro, a '68 Shelby Mustang, '71 Dart Sport, a Grand Prix SJ, and a pretty goofy '79 Camaro with a big spider graphic on the hood, and after the dastardly M. Emmet Walsh destroys the motor in his Chevelle, Geoffrey Lewis turns out to be "Fast Freddie" and he lets him borrow his amazing '57 Chevy that was buried under the football field to run the race. Can you guess what happens? Not going to win any awards, but it's a good example of some automotive thrills.