Despite a background in acting, Scott Cooper is making a nice little splash as he expands into the world of writing and directing. After scripting a horror movie you probably haven't heard of back in 2009 (For Sale by Owner), he went on to adapt and direct a novel about a faded country musician. That became Crazy Heart, netted a cast including Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, and won two Oscars. Not bad for a first stab in the feature-film director's chair. Now Deadline reports that Cooper is close to closing a deal to lend his talents to yet another book adaptation: Mark Seal's nonfiction book, The Man in the Rockefeller Suit.
Rockefeller Suit is the story of Christian Gerhartsreiter, a German conman who posed as a member of the prestigious Rockefeller family, and benefited quite well from his deception. Passing himself under the alias "Clark Rockefeller," he married a Harvard Business grad, landed Wall Street jobs, and generally lived a jet-setting lifestyle based entirely upon a lie. His scheme began to fall apart around the same time as his marriage, after his wife discovered some of his fibs and demanded a divorce. Rather than just vanishing into yet another identity, Gerhartsreiter kidnapped their daughter and was arrested less than a week later.
It's the kind of stranger-than-fiction tale that movies were made for, and tales of con artists have always been rich fodder for storytelling. If everything comes together properly, The Man in the Rockefeller Suit could play like a more serious version of Catch Me if You Can or The Hoax.
