Catch Me If You Can

1989 "If you can't win the race, move the finish line."
5.9| 1h46m| PG| en
Details

A hotshot teenage car racer persuades the class president of a small Minnesota high school to gamble on illegal car races to raise money for their school which is facing closure.

Director

Producted By

Management Company Entertainment Group (MCEG)

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Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
royiscool86 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.
Pepper Anne 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)?
batman102750 Not Bad Really, a lot of great Hot Rods and some fast Drag Racing as well. The Sound Track was good and the drag racing was excellent. I liked the way they brought back Fast Eddie from hiding from under the High School Football Field from years ago and dispelled the myth.
H5O Unlike Fresh (1994), where a young, 12 year old African American male pushes drugs in the Brooklyn community, this film has another reference to the innovator, a typology coined by sociologist Robert Merton, where an individual would like to have a share of culturally defined goals, but reject the legitimate means to achieve success. In this film, the local high school is on the verge of being closed, and the student council president (Loryn Locklin) and the principal (Geoffrey Lewis) must come up with $200,000 to save the school from its demise. When Matt Lattanzi steps in, this is where the plot twist occurs.The Malone character engages in illegitimate sub rosa activity, by illegal street racing for money, and when all legitimate efforts fail during the fundraiser, the last resort is illegal street racing, when $3000 of the fundrainser money is betted on a street race. Unknowingly to the high school students, they are dealing with the gambling syndicate, and the loan sharks that run the illegal street racing. Lots of classic cars in this film, which includes a 1968 Chevelle and a 1957 Chevrolet, and watch for the ultimate plot twist where the principal used to be a legendary drag racer! Why does he hide his car on the schoolgrounds? Because his home used to be located there.

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