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Show 'gieesaeaaaai ' i(iftiitfrftiiiigM!,&-u;i- f-- --f nTti rfYarfftYt c i FICTION BOOKS TO FILMS The story of a compulsive cop Coming soon to a theater near you BY BECKY OHLSEN BY BECKY OHLSEN Its hard not to read Matchstick Men as a script, given its background. Long before Miami author Eric Garcias novel was published, filmmaker Ridley Scott signed on to direct the film adaptation. Its set to be one of next summers major blockbusters, with Nicolas Cage as the protagonist, Roy, an aging con artist (or matchstick man) e disorder. Considering Hollywoods longtime who suffers from fascination with the grifter lifestyle, plus the current vogue for films that deal with mental illness, the film seems bound to be a hit Roys been a grifter for ages. Hes seen it all. I know all the angles, he tells a potential business partner, and I see them coming before other guys even thought of em. Maybe theres a little too much confidence in this con man, though, because he doesnt see the biggest con of his life even as its falling into place right under his nose. Roys best friend and partner, Frankie (to be played by Sam Rockwell in the film), wants them to get in on a doesnt love to be able to walk out of a holiday blockbuster and say, not bad but the book was better? Get a jump on the seasons films by reading the great books that inspired them, several of which are available in new editions. Who obsessive-compulsiv- ) scheme involving a mysterious Turk named Saif, forgeries of forgeries of Pollocks and Miros and several thousand dollars of cold hard cash. Roy, the seasoned vet, doesn't trust anybody he hasnt known for eons. He is, literally, insanely uptight even when hes on his medication. Besides, hes a little distracted, because he just found out he has a daughter from a whirlwind marriage that ended years ago. But his new shrink, Dr. Klein, has him on some great pills, so at least the specks of dirt on the rug dont make him want to vomit anymore. And he trusts Frankie. So he goes along with the art scheme, meanwhile getting to know his long-lodaughter, Angela, whos eager to learn the family business herself. Alert readers will guess whats up by page 50, but the fun is in watching Roy figure it out, seeing him dodge constant curveballs and maintain his sanity in the face of his illness. Hes a compelling character, and its only slightly distracting to be unable to narvisualize him as anyone but Nicolas Cage. The immediacy of Roys present-tens- e ration drags you right into his head and keeps you there as the tale unfolds, making it nearly impossible not to be touched by his love of the grift, his unforeseen parental devotion to Angela and his inevitable crash. Then the sad music swells, the scene fades to black and the credits start to roll. If st Becky Ohlsen writes from Portland, Oregon. ENTERTAINMENT Revealing glimpses of popular icons BY MARTIN BRADY has been d entertainment writer Bill Zehme (pronounced for such for 20 colorful and out mostly years, celebrity profiles cranking interesting magazines as Esquire, Playboy, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. Few journalists have managed to produce such a steady body of quality work interviews at once entertaining and informative, focusing on media icons and written in an incisive, yet edgy, style. Intimate Strangers, an engrossing collection of Zehmes notable stories from the past two decades, showcases the authors sometimes quirky but always fascinating approaches to the minds of such legendary figures as Hugh Hefner, Tom Hanks, Cameron Diaz, the Seinfeld gang, Johnny Depp and Eddie Murphy. Zehme doesnt merely ask a series of prepared questions; hell often spend days with his interviewees, keeping his tape recorder on, sharing their lives and gaining the necessary trust to elicit offbeat, ultimately revealing responses. The fact that these pieces date back to the early 80s ensures a curiously welcome historical perspective on popular culture. We hear Woody Allens pained remarks Soon-Y- i scanduring the aftermath of the dal; glimpse notorious ladies man Warren Beatty in the days before he settles down into wedded bliss; and listen to Madonna during her peak as a pop tart talking about Catholicism and the importance of her father in her life. The book concludes with an insightful series of alterinterviews that Zehme pubnating, lished through the 90s with David Letterman and Jay Leno, during the era of Johnny Carsons impending retirement. With Zehme just recently launching a new cable interview show on the Bravo channel, the timing is perfect for the release of this hip journalist to maximum effect. Filmmaker collection, which exhibits his skills as ZAY-me- Chicago-base- nt pop Cameron Crowe provides the introduction. W It would be impossible to read the entrancing prologue to The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Picador, $13, 240 pages, ISBN 0312305060) and not keep going. The novel, awarded both the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the PENFaulkner Award in 1999, begins with an evocation of Virginia Woolfs suicide, then jumps to the contemporary era, where two women seek to escape their varied bonds through Woolfs writing. The film, with a screenplay by David Hare, stars Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore as the two women and Nicole Kidman as Woolf. In About Schmidt by Louis Begley (Ballantine, $13.95, 274 pages, ISBN 0449911 160), Jack Nicholson again plays the unlik-abl- e guy who grows on you; this is said to be among his most lawyer, now affecting performances. Schmidt is an retired, whose beloved wife has recently died. Always cool and distant toward his daughter, Schmidt now finds himself unable to accept the Jewish lawyer she married. The novel sets his pride and loneliness against warmly humorous social commentary as Schmidts reserve is shaken by the two women who enter his life. The Ballantine Readers Circle edition includes a reading u tout llfllll group guide. Was Chuck Barris, undisputed eccentric and the mastermind behind The Gong Show, really an undercover CIA assassin known as Sunny Sixkiller? So he claims in his characteristically nutzoid memoir, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Talk Miramax, $14, 256 pages, ISBN 0786888083), soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney and starring Sam Rockwell as Barris. First published in 1982, the book has long been out of print; Talk Miramaxs new trade paperback coincides with the films December release and includes eight by fellow eccenpages of film stills. The script was tric Charlie Kaufman, the man who brought us Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (see below). Sticking with the theme of the zany memoir, Adaptation is screenwriter Charlie Kaufmans manic account of his effort to make a film adaptation of Susan Orleans The Orchid Thief (Ballantine, $14, 284 pages, ISBN 044900371X). In the film, Orleans true story of the orchid thief, John Laroche (Chris Cooper), has to compete with the screenwriters fever dream sparked by his infatuation with the back-covof Orlean (Meryl Streep). Nicolas Cage plays Kaufman photo and his imaginary twin brother, Donald, a in a The film, both a wacked-ou- t satire of Hollywood and a writers quest for meaning, reunites Kaufman with Being John Malkoviih director Spike Jonze. character-within-a-charact- Occasionally you come across a book that makes you wonwells of strength and gumption its author must draw from. Finding Fish by Antwone Quenton Tisher (Harper, $7.50, 384 pages, ISBN 0060539860) is one such book, rislier was born in prison to a teenage mom and spent two years with a loving foster family before being moved to the home of the Pickett clan, where he endured 14 years of unimaginable abuse. At 18 he joined the Navy, and it almost certainly saved his life. His remarkable memoir has been adapted for the screen by e director Denel Washington, who stars as the Navy psychiatrist who mentored Fisher. der at the deep first-tim- In conjunction with the film Gods and Generals, directed by Ronald F. Maxwell ( Gettysburg ), Ballantine is releasing a new boxed set of the Civil War trilogy by Michael Shaara and his son, Jeff M. Shaara Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels and The Last Full Measure (Ballantine, $40, ISBN 0345433726). Gods and Generals, a prequel to Gettysburg, documents one of this countrys bloodiest eras and follows the rise and fall of legendary war hero Stonewall Jackson (Stephen Lang); Robert Duvall and Jeff Daniels also star. Also timed to coincide with the film is Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mart Kunstler (Greenwich Workshop, $27.50, 143 pages, ISBN 0867130849) featuring more than 65 works by the noted Civil War artist and text by historian James I. Robertson Jr. ' DECEMBER I 4 A V:. 2002 BOOKPAGE 31 |