He pretended to be a pilot and got free rides on international airlines to countries around the world. He wrote fake checks and stole several millions of dollars from banks, hotels, and airlines. He lied and got jobs by impersonating a doctor, a lawyer, and a university professor, all before he was twenty-one years old. Does this sound like the story to movie? It is. But it is also tree. This is the story of Frank Abagnale’s life of crime told in Abagnale’s book Catch Me if You Can and in the movie by the’ same name. Although the movie is based on the book, there are several important differences between the two.
Probably the one thing that really sets apart the book from the movie is the point-of-view of the story. The book, co-written by Abagnale and a professional writer, is told in Abagnale’s own words. In the book, he tells the reader, “I did this. This is how and this is why.” But in the movie, the story is told from a third person’s point-of-view. This point-of-view limits the details available to viewers of the movie.
Because the writer of the movie could not include many of the details about Abagnale’s crimes and motives, the writer had to change things to make the story understandable for viewers. For example, Agagnale explains in the book how he used his knowledge of the banking system’s number codes to commit fraud (诈骗). In the movie, Abagnale has detailed knowledge of printing and check design, like a kind of criminal genius. The movie’s writer never tells the audience how Abagnale got all of this knowledge.
Another key difference between the book and movie has to do with the people trying to catch Abagnale. In the book, there are only a few references to an FBI agent named O’Really, the man in charge of Abagnale’s ease. However, the movie gives viewers a lot more information about how an FBI agent, renamed Hanratty, cracks down Abagnale and finally catches him.
There are a number of other major differences between the book and the movie about Abagnale’s life, some of which seem to make the book more interesting while others make the movie more interesting. In the end, it all comes down to the question, “Which is better?” Like many other books that have been made into movies, the book is better in this case. The fictional parts of the movie may help create dramatic scenes for the movie and help viewers understand the story quickly, but they are fictional. There is an old saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” And in this case, the truth is both stranger and more interesting.
1. Why is Frank Abagnale most famous?
A. He directed a movie about his life.
B. He stole a lot of money from the FBI.
C. He talked his way into many different jobs.
D. He was trained as a pilot, a lawyer and a professor.
2. Which is true about the book and the movie?
A. Both were not use.                                B. Neither was very popular.
C. There are several major differences.        D. They were written by the same person.
3. What did Abagnale know about in-real life? He knew ____________.
A. how to fly a plane                                 B. the number system used by banks
C. how to direct movies                             D. the working system of the FBI