Originally filmed in 2010 but not released until 2018, Con Man is one of the strangest vanity projects that I’ve ever seen.

Originally entitled Minkow, Con Man tells the story of Barry Minkow.  When Minkow was a teenager, he started a carpet cleaning business and he quickly learned how to both promote himself and how to lie about how much money he was making.  The media ate up the story of the teenager became a millionaire by cleaning carpets.  His father (Mark Hamill) was proud of him.  His mother (Talia Shire) worried that he was moving away from God.  A local mobster (Armand Assante) decided to get involved.  It was eventually discovered that Barry was kiting checks, lying to insurance companies, and massively defrauding both his investors and his employees.  After being busted by the FBI (represented here by James Caan), Barry Minkow was sent to prison.

In the film, teenage Barry Minkow is played by a young, handsome, and charismatic Justin Baldoni.  When Barry gets out of jail, he’s suddenly been transformed into …. well, Barry Minkow.  That’s right.  Barry Minkow plays himself.  Needless to say, Barry Minkow looks nothing like Justin Baldoni.  It’s not just that the two men are different ages.  It’s also that there’s no way to imagine Justin Baldoni transforming into the gargoyle that is Barry Minkow.

In prison, Barry Minkow is converted to Christianity by a prisoner named Peanut (Ving Rhames).  After Minkow serves his sentence, he not only helps the FBI track down other con artists but he becomes the pastor of his local church.  Despite his past, everyone loves and trusts Barry Minkow.  Everyone talks about how charismatic he is, despite the fact that the adult Barry Minkow delivers his lines in a flat monotone and looks like he should be sitting over the entrance of a cathedral.  People who suspect that they’ve been a victim of financial fraud start to come to Barry, asking him for advice.  The always humble Barry is concerned that he’ll let people down but, in the end, even James Caan says that Barry is a great guy.  “I’m doing the work of God!” Barry proclaims.

Yes, the film is fueled by pure ego.  Unfortunately, it took more than ego to pay the bills so Minkow embezzled money from his own church, stole money from his congregation, and resorted to his old track of “clipping” checks to finance the whole thing.  Shortly after the film was completed, Minkow was arrested and sent back to prison.  (A hot mic caught Minkow bragging to James Caan about how he financed the film.  After his arrest, Minkow denied he had ever said that and dared anyone with proof to turn it over.  The film’s director proceeded to do just that.  Barry Minkow was not only a criminal.  He was a stupid criminal.)

As for the film, it sat in limbo for eight years.  Eventually, talking head interview with Minkow’s actual victims talking about how much they disliked Barry were sprinkled throughout the film.  (Shortly before Minkow starts playing himself, we hear one of his business partners say that everyone told him not to play himself.)  The original film ended on a triumphant note.  The new film — which was retitled Con Man — ended with real people talking about Barry Minkow going back to jail and casting doubt as to whether or not Barry ever even knew a prisoner named Peanut.

The film is a vanity project and not a very good one.  Minkow is a terrible actor and, just in case we forget that fact, he reminds us by trying to hold the screen opposite James Caan and Ving Rhames.  (Even Elisabeth Rohm manages to outact him.)  As bad as the film is, the story behind it is endlessly fascinating.  Barry Minkow was determined to become a star.  (Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can was an obvious inspiration.)  Instead, he went back to prison and his vanity project was transformed into a roast.  And it probably couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.

Previous Icarus Files:

1. Cloud Atlas
2. Maximum Overdrive
3. Glass
4. Captive State
5. Mother!
6. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
7. Last Days
8. Plan 9 From Outer Space
9. The Last Movie
10. 88
11. The Bonfire of the Vanities
12. Birdemic
13. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection 
14. Last Exit To Brooklyn
15. Glen or Glenda
16. The Assassination of Trotsky
17. Che!
18. Brewster McCloud
19. American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally
20. Tough Guys Don’t Dance
21. Reach Me
22. Revolution
23. The Last Tycoon
24. Express to Terror 
25. 1941
26. The Teheran Incident