"Catch Me If You Can" is Secretly One of the Greatest Christmas Movies

Along with "does pineapple belong on pizza," "is 'Die Hard' a Christmas movie" is one of the most contentious debates on the internet. And while I have my opinion on the "Die Hard" question (and the pineapple one) that's not the film I'm here to tell you is secretly a Christmas classic. There are plenty of other articles that have already done that and frankly it's a little played out to claim "Die Hard" as your favorite Christmas movie, as good as it is. For the real deep Christmas cut tell people that your favorite is 2002's "Catch Me if You Can."

But before we can definitively call "Catch Me If You Can" a great Christmas movie, let's get into what actually makes a Christmas movie, or at the very least what people point to as making something a Christmas film. On the most basic level it's a movie set at Christmas. This is a pretty simple and solid solution but it provides a few wrinkles and means you have to count films like; "The Godfather," "The French Connection," and everything Shane Black has every made as Christmas movies.

For me it's always been akin to what makes a western, i.e. a specific setting, aesthetic, and to a lesser degree theme. We all know a western when we see it, even if it's a "modern" or "revisionist western" like "Hell or High Water" or "McCabe & Mrs. Miller." Sure some critics will claim that somehow "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" isn't a western but "Star Wars" is, but frankly those people can shut the fuck up. (Side note someone should make a proper Christmas film set in the old west.)

Just like westerns, Christmas films have secondary genres, or are secondary genres themselves, depending on how you look at it. While a lot of Christmas movies are also in either the family or fantasy categories, pretty much every genre has been covered as a Christmas film. There are; romances like "Love Actually," comedies like "Elf," superhero flicks including "Batman Returns," and even one of the first slashers ever, "Black Christmas." So it should come as no surprise that there exists a perfect crime Christmas movie as well, complete with all the things one would come to expect when looking at a Christmas film.

So is "Catch Me If You Can" wall to wall Christmas aesthetic? No, not even close, a large amount of it isn't even set during Christmas (also true of Christmas classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Meet Me in St. Louis") as it follows two men, Frank and Carl, in a cat and mouse game over a number of years. However, every time these two characters speak it's on Christmas Eve, a fact the film points out. These interactions are inflection points in the film and often are pivotal for both plot and character development. Each of these moments are filled with both strong Christmas aesthetics and powerful connections to the themes inherent in Christmas.

While there isn't a universal definition of what Christmas means many of the best Christmas films suggest it's about being with family. Many of the most renowned take this a step further and touch on the melancholy and loneliness that come with the holidays. "Catch Me if You Can" does this by showing Frank, a child of a divorce (a hallmark charter in Spielberg films) and his flamboyant but ultimately hollow life of crime. Likewise Carl is pulled away from his family by his career and obsession with catching Frank.

One thing every Christmas movie needs however is Christmas music. A ton of Christmas films are even named after Christmas songs, or lyrics in them. Technically you could make the argument that "Catch Me if You Can" falls into that category as "Frosty the Snowman" features the title as a lyric, but that song doesn't appear in the film. The song that does appear in a prominent moment however is Nat King Cole's carol simply called "The Christmas Song," and for my money it's the most iconic use of the song in a film. It comes at the film's climax, when all the themes, sounds, and aesthetics of Christmas are on full display.

As Frank has escaped from Carl one last time he makes his way across the snowy suburbs of New York till he reaches a cozy home that could be right out of a Christmas card. He's made his way back to the only family he has left, his mother. But as he peers through the window seeing the tree with the presents tucked beneath he meets a sister he never knew he had and realizes his mother has a new life without him. He is truly alone on Christmas, and asks Carl who has arrived on the scene to take him away as quickly as possible.

If that all seems a bit dreary don't pout, like so many other Christmas movies, this one has a happy ending, set of course on Christmas Eve once again. In the end Frank and Carl discover a new family in each other.

Oh and one more tidbit worth mentioning; the film was released on December 25th 2002.