"Catch Me If You Can" & "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

"Catch Me If You Can" is a fun and fast paced movie based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. Set in the early 1960's, Frank (played by Leonardo di Caprio) is a smart teenager who runs away from home when his parents seperate. In order to survive he learns how to make fake cheques that banks will cash, which leads to inpersonations of airline pilots and doctors and so on. Before his 19th birthday he has conned over 2 million dollars. Hunting him down is Carl Handratty (played by the fabulous Tom Hanks) an FBI agent in the cheque fraud department.

Directed by Steven Speilberg you know it's going to be a good movie! He doesn't disappoint with this one.

Tom Hanks is one of my very favourite actors and I think Leonardo di Caprio is pretty impressive too. Lots of woman tend to like Leonardo for his babyface good looks, but personally I think he's a great actor and that's much more important than looks. Both men are so good a character acting - you really believe they are their characters. They have a great chemistry on screen and really carry the whole movie well together.

They are supported by a great supporting cast and cameo appearances consisting of Christopher Walkin, Martin Sheen, James Brolin, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner and Ellen Pompeo. They are all well known names in their own right but manage to do a great job and making the stars shine.

This movie is quick, fun and well paced. There is slow paced story build up as well as fast chasing scenes. It's structured in a way that makes you really want Frank to get away with it all, but you also really want Carl to catch him. You definetly become torn between which side you're on.

"Catch Me If You Can" doesn't get old. It's not a movie that you see new things in each time you see it, but you don't get tired of it either. It's always interesting and entertaining no matter how often you watch it. It's a good one to watch when you're looking for a little action and a little bit of eye candy too :)

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was next. A remake of the classic Roald Dahl children's book that was made into a movie in 1971 - "Willy Wonka and the Chocoalte Factor" which JP owns and we'll watch later on in the project. This Tim Burton version was made in 2005 and stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.

Tim Burton is known for his quirky and often dark movies, so straight away you know this version of Charlie is going to have an 'edgy' quality to it.

For those of you that don't know the story - how could you not?! Here we go. Willy Wonka runs the most popular chocolate factory in the world, but he is a recluse. One day he sends out five golden tickets inside chocolate bars. The five children the find the tickets will be invited to the factory for a tour and recieve a special prize at the end. Charlie Bucket lives in a tiny, rundown house just down the road from the factory, with his Mum, Dad and both sets of Grandparents. Four of the five tickets are found by children around the world and Charlie manages to find the last one. Grandpa Joe accompanies Charlie to the factory for the tour. Willy Wonka turns out to be rather eccentric and runs his factory in a very odd fashion with the help of Oompa Loompas. Each child finds himself giving in to temptation and sampling products despite Willy Wonkas insistenance that they don't. Only Charile resists and he is all set to recieve the great prize the ticket promised.

This version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" has kept relatively true to the original story. There are some scenes that are done a lot differently than those in the 1971 version and are a lot closer to the book than the first movie. The biggest one is the scene where Veruca Salt wants a squirel and gets thrown down the nut shute. This is in the book as opposed to the 1971 version which has Veruca Salt wanting a golden egg laid by giant geese. This version has added a Willy Wonka and his father story line which includes flashbacks. This storyline is not in the book and I didn't think it was really necessary, although I could see why they did it.

The Oompa Loompas are portrayed by one actor - Deep Roy. What an amazing job he must have had. He would have had to preform the same scenes and songs over and over again, but in slightly different positions each time. I admire the work that would have gone in to doing this role and that they went with a completely different idea for the Oompa Loompas, rather than trying to copy what was done in the 1971 version.

Freddie Highmore is great as Charlie Bucket. He's a really great little actor and I think he'll have a great acting career ahead of him. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" has a supporting cast of Christopher Lee, Missi Pyle, Helena Bonham Carter, David Kelly and AnnaSophia Robb.

Now, I like this version - Johnny Depp is very good at quirky and creepy Willy Wonka role. However, so many people, JP included, seem to prefer the original version. There are aspects of both versions that I prefer over the other. I think it's worth watching both - they both add so much to the orginal story. Speaking of which, when did you last read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"?! I was a kid, so I plan on re-reading it some time soon. If for no other reason than to recall my youth and to find out how much of the movies they really do relate to the book.

Next? "Cheaper By The Dozen" and "Cheaper By The Dozen 2". Yep, you betcha, JP's looking forward to these two. heheheehehhe.