“Matchstick Men,” a novel by Eric Garcia, could teach any local Joe the tricks and tips of how to become a con artist.
Roy and Frank are the title characters. They’re always thinking of a new way to scam their innocent victims. They’re such experts that no one can get them at their own game.
Garcia gives the basic, physical descriptions of each of the characters. He paints Roy, the main character, as a middle-aged, slightly chubby man who is suffering from obsessive compulsion. Frankie is a thin, tall and conniving man who has been Roy’s partner in business for seven years.
Whether they are profiting off a card game at their local diner or scamming a lovely, elderly lady into believing they will fix her roof, both men know exactly what they are doing. Then Roy’s life becomes a mess when he discovers he has a daughter from a short-lived marriage.
Somehow, some of Garcia’s witty personality found its way in between the covers of the book. “Matchstick Men” evokes the same sense of humor. The pages are filled with small quirks and jokes.
Every sentence brings a smile to each reader. It wouldn’t be normal for a person not to laugh at least 10 times during the read.
According to Garcia’s publicist, Jynne Martin, Garcia is quite the prankster. She noted how the author loved to prank call her and then hang up.
Garcia is not only a prankster. He, too, is a con artist at deceiving his audience.
“If I were slightly less law-abiding, I would make a good con man,” Garcia said.
Garcia takes his audience through a maze where every twist is a surprise readers never expected and every turn is marked with astonishment. Garcia purposely created the tangled web of ambushed shocks.
“It’s a con of a con book,” Garcia said.
He finished the book in record time, hoping that most readers could finish the book within a day.
“I didn’t want anybody to stop too hard trying to read it,” Garcia said.
It was in the early part of 2000 when Garcia started the book. In fact, he finished the first draft within just a few weeks, he said.
It wasn’t until Garcia submitted his book over to his agents that they realized the cinematic potential of the novel. After agreements with big-name production companies, such as Warner Brothers, “Matchstick Men” soon became a new movie title as well.
The movie is set to be released in early August starring Nicholas Cage as Roy and Sam Rockwell of “Charlie’s Angels” as Frankie.
Garcia said it’s funny — he had never pictured Roy as fitting the physical description of Cage.
Instead of Cage, Garcia had thought John Goodman would be perfect for the role. He has the same tall and heavy stature of Roy.
Although Edward Norton was his first pick for Frankie, Garcia said Rockwell would match Frankie’s image just as well.
Ridley Scott, who directed famous movies such as “Gladiator,” will direct the movie, and Ted Griffin wrote the script. Griffin was the mastermind behind the “Ocean’s Eleven” script.
