Pictures of Matchstick Men

Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World’s Most Charming Con Man – David Howard (Crown)

I love con man movies; there’s just something about the adventure and the chase that makes these films jump off the screen and crackle with excitement. Films like Grifters, Matchstick Men, 21, and Focus will have you not only on the edge of your seat, but you may find yourself rooting for the bad guy.

When the movie is based on a true story such as the case of Catch Me If Your Can, where Leonardo DiCaprio plays the real-life con artist, Frank Abagnale, Jr., the story takes on a new life. It is that kind of real life adventure that David Howard, an award winning magazine writer/editor and author details in Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World’s Most Charming Con Man.

The Phil in question is prolific con man Phil Kitzer, who some have dubbed the world’s greatest swindler. The con, in con man, is short for confidence man; someone who has the almost magical ability to instill confidence in the people that they are attempting to persuade or convince to hand over cash or other valuables in the end game.

In the end, that’s exactly what it amounts to, a game. Chasing Phil is the inside story of two neophyte Feds, FBI agents J.J. Wedick and Jack Brennan, working their first undercover case in the hopes of taking down the master swindler. Chasing Phil reads like a great caper screenplay, as the pair roll by the seat of their pants, trying to keep up on this great adventure.

The cast of characters and the situations they find themselves dropped into reads like great fiction, the fact that it is a true story makes it all the more amazing. While the story is real, it is also very familiar and I think it would make the great leap to the big screen and find it’s way to the list of great con artist flicks.