Gangs of New York (2002)
RELEASED: December 20, 2002 BOX-OFFICE: $77,812,000
QUICK THOUGHTS: Gangs of New York was the first step into what I consider the “new” DiCaprio. For so long he was just a baby faced Teen Beat cover boy and in all honesty he pretty much still is and I am not sure he will ever look older than 25 to 30-years-old, but as excited as I was to see another Scorsese film I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going to be able to endure a goateed DiCaprio trying to act tough. However, it worked and worked well. However, I enjoy this movie for much more than just DiCaprio, but the sign that he was able to pull off a tough guy role showed he had some range many people may not have thought he had.
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Catch Me If You Can (2002)
RELEASED: December 25, 2002 BOX-OFFICE: $164,615,351
QUICK THOUGHTS: Working with Steven Spielberg this was more of a safe role for Leo. The character is a 19-year-old con man and with Leo posing as a tough guy in Gangs of New York it couldn’t have been a timelier role to take on. Fortunately for both Catch Me if You Can and Gangs of New York Leo proved he could act as a character and as a character while in character. Catch Me if You Can is the lighter of his two December 2002 film roles, but it had a particular emotional demand that continued to show DiCaprio’s ability.
