Yesterday afternoon I finished off Catch Me If You Can – the memoir of Frank Abignale, an American who managed to con several organisations and individuals in the sixties. It has been years since I saw the film that was based on his tales (which was very good and perhaps now underrated) so the thought of reading the book would be good for two reasons:
1) It adds more detail to a story that is both eye-opening and gripping.
2) It allows me to find out what bits of the book were cut from the film.
There were a couple of days where I was utterly engrossed. The magnitude of Abignale’s feats are truly remarkable – acting as a doctor and working as one for nearly a year and never being found out being the most staggering and emotional. I think comparing it with the film would be harsh. At the end of the day, a lot would have be cut in order to make a succinct two-hour film so it’s clear that some things would be cut. In the end though, after much thought, both book and film stand up well on their own merits.
Any other examples were both a book and a film are equally good?
