Catch Me If You Can

Game show opening. Frank Abagnale Jr. running through airport. FBI chasing. Stylish 1960s. Cat and mouse established. Con artist vs. law. Playful tone despite crime. Who is telling truth?

Frank Sr.: "Two little mice fell in bucket of cream. First mouse gave up and drowned. Second mouse struggled, churned cream to butter, climbed out." Theme of never giving up, identity creation, and running from pain.

Frank Jr. 16, loving family. Father Frank Sr. charming conman. Mother Paula. New Rochelle life comfortable. Father IRS problems. Family happy. Frank idolizes father. Close bond. Life about to shatter.

Parents divorce. Mother affair. Frank runs away at 16. Alone, broke, naive. Old life destroyed. Identity crisis. Father everything to him, now absent. Cannot go home. Must survive alone.

Should Frank go straight or con? No money, no home. Cannot get job at 16. Learns to forge checks. Small cons. Getting better. Realizes he is good at this. Can create any identity. Father taught him performance. Put it to use?

Frank becomes Pan Am pilot. Full uniform. Fake ID. Cashing checks everywhere. Living high. 17-year-old living fantasy. Entering world of international conman. No limits. FBI agent Carl Hanratty investigating.

Frank and Carl relationship. Adversaries becoming oddly connected. Carl dedicated, lonely workaholic. Frank charming criminal, lonely runaway. Christmas phone calls. Understanding each other. Mutual respect developing through chase.

Multiple cons. Pilot flying free, staying hotels. Doctor for year. Lawyer passing bar. Romance with Brenda. Meeting parents. Promise: watching brilliant conman work, close calls, charm and deception. Exhilarating adventures.

Frank proposes to Brenda. Wants real life. False victory: could settle down, go straight with love. But Carl closing in. Paula remarried. Father struggling. Cannot escape past. Stakes raised - happiness within reach but threatened.

Carl gets close. Brenda father FBI agent, suspicious. Frank printing money now. Greed growing. Father dying. Tries to visit, collapses. Everything falling apart. Running out of places to hide. Identity fracturing.

Caught in France. Extradited. Brutal French prison. Carl brings him home. Father died. Never reconciled. Lost Brenda. Lost freedom. Lost father who was everything. 21 years old, facing decades in prison. Complete loss.

Prison. Frank broken. Everything he built was illusion. Ran from pain into worse pain. Father dead believing he failed. Love gone. No identity left. Young man with nothing. Hit absolute bottom.

Carl offers deal: help FBI catch forgers, reduced sentence. Frank accepts. Synthesis: talent redirected to good. Running stops. Using gifts legitimately. Carl becomes father figure. Purpose found through redemption.

Frank working for FBI. Catching criminals. Reunites with mother and daughter. Visits Brenda, she moved on. Carl trusts him. Pass FBI check. Offered real job. From criminal to legitimate. Earned second chance.

Frank consulting, happy at work. Carl and Frank partnership. Real connection, real purpose. Text: Frank worked FBI 30 years, millions recovered. Mouse churned cream to butter. Never gave up. Transformation complete.