Con Man Page #6

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This court is adjourned.

You know,

the 2.5 million people

that are busting

the seams of our prisons,

both state and federally

across the U. S.,

all of us had one thing

in common.

None of us ever planned

on being there.

We all started

with the best of intentions.

I just wanted to be accepted.

But it was that vehicle that got me

that acceptance that swallowed me whole.

You see, as far back as I can

remember, I was dubbed "the whiz kid,"

and I had everything

I ever wanted.

Until it all came

crashing down.

Until I realized that

my whole life was a con.

One big giant con.

Barry was compelled, compelled

to play himself in the film,

because that's the only way he

could reach the final completion

of being the hero

in his own story.

It was not enough to have an

A- list actor. It had to be him.

The acting that Barry did

in the film,

was, I thought,

very, very, very good.

I know when he wanted to

make this movie...

There again, I said, "Barry,

be very, very careful."

I certainly advised him

not to play himself.

I said,

"You're making a mistake."

Sorry. Hold on. There you go.

There we go.

Mind if I smoke?

No, go ahead.

I don't smoke.

I mean, not anymore.

I was just curious what a

preacher felt about that.

But now, unfortunately,

I'm hooked on these.

I got to go to rehab

for these. Want one?

No.

It's the red one.

Go ahead. No.

What are you thinking about?

Nah.

Peanut.

What's that?

James "Peanut" Long.

The reason they call me

the Jailhouse Preacher.

Oh. You're gonna tell me

how you found Jesus?

I didn't find Jesus.

He found me in the form of

a 250-pound black guy.

Not bad for a guy your size.

Size ain't nothing.

The body is your temple.

Muscles ain't strength.

Real strength is in here.

You know, the most

dangerous part of your story

is that throughout

the whole ordeal

you actually

convinced yourself

that you were helping

hundreds of employees,

when in reality,

you were just...

Helping myself.

That's all I was doing.

Hindsight is 20/20,

and look where it got me.

Locked up in a prison cell.

Well, we're both locked up.

Difference is, I'm at

peace with what I've done.

And I'm getting there.

You're pretending

to get there.

You don't think I'm sincere?

I think you're trying

to find the Lord,

so you can hang out

with the Jesus freaks

instead of the skinheads

to make it in here.

Whatever.

Yeah. Whatever.

Why do you come to church

on Sunday

Is it because you're really

trying to change your life?

Or is it just another

Barry Minkow con?

One thing to remember

is the fraud artist

doesn't see himself

as a criminal.

The fraud is merely a means

to a well-justified end.

Once the scheme works,

everybody gets paid off,

nobody gets hurt.

Voila.

Okay, let's move on here.

You know as well as I do, when

the devil comes at you at first,

he looks good, sounds good,

feels good.

Then, when it's too late,

the beast comes out.

You got that right.

Where were you 11 years ago?

Well, I had a lot of

growing up to do.

Like I said,

ain't no accidents in life.

We bought shares

for five cents apiece,

then dumped them on the market

when it hit 12 and 13 bucks.

That was the part

that was illegal.

So, it was Saxon that got you

involved in the penny stocks, right?

And that's when he turned

his Wall Street connections

onto the stock,

they bought blocks of it,

the price shot through

the roof

and I was worth

millions instantly.

Insider trading.

Hey!

Hey!

Hey, you need to

leave him alone.

Yeah? You need to

mind your own business.

Hey, I don't want any trouble.

I said

mind your own business.

I will when you let him go.

Too bad.

Can't you hear?

Finish your shower. I said

take a walk, man. Take a walk.

I don't think so.

Don't think so?

I know I'm not seeing

what I think I'm seeing.

'Cause if you're trying to hurt

him, you're trying to hurt me.

Let's get out of here.

Lord Jesus,

I want to thank you

for making me

a God-fearing man.

And having me

not beat anyone's ass.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

I'm proud of you, whiz kid.

You did all the work.

I don't know why

you'd be proud of me.

Changing.

You helped a weaker brother

who was outnumbered.

Shows that you're changing from

your selfish-ass, self-centered ways.

Remember. The Lord always

looks out for the underdog.

I don't know if it

was Peanut or the broken nose.

I guess God has a way

of taking care of the details.

And it was at this moment that

life took on new clarity for me.

See, to win the game,

I had to stay in the pocket,

and face the pain.

It was then I learned

that to win in life

meant no more backing down.

No more shortcuts.

No more compromises.

No more lies.

And no more cons.

How you feeling?

I question whether some of

the stuff he did was for the movie

or the story of the movie.

I never felt better.

Thank you.

I question whether Peanut

was a real person or not.

It's a pretty good throw.

I don't think Barry

could throw a football nine feet.

Truth plus time equal trust.

A lot of truth, over a long

period of time equals trust.

And no shortcuts to that

equation either, you know?

Yeah, well,

thanks for the time.

Like I said

from the beginning,

I don't want to spend the rest

of my life in witness protection.

I'm not going to testify against

Mr. Saxon, not now, not ever.

Excuse me.

I never felt that

Barry was rehabilitated.

I believe his

transformation was real.

Everyone in prison knew

that if you found Jesus

that would look good on your

record to maybe get early release.

Truth plus time equal trust.

A lot of truth, over a long

period of time equals trust.

And no shortcuts to that

equation either, you know.

All right. We've heard

the testimony.

Now, it's time to decide based

on Mr. Minkow's present character.

You know, he came

out of prison raring to go.

But I didn't see it coming

with the church, quite honestly.

Mr. Minkow, we have

gone through your application

and enjoyed your guest sermon,

but now we'd like to hear the

answer to the following question.

Why should we hire you?

Well, on paper,

you shouldn't.

Especially when you

consider the fact that

the other 199 applicants

aren't convicted felons.

If you hire me,

I can promise you one thing,

that no one will work harder,

if for no other reason

than out of gratitude for

being given the opportunity

to pastor such a great church.

You see, I'm naive enough

to believe that

if you want to find the best

employee, the best place to find one

is someone who's

just come out of prison,

who didn't fail jail.

Who owes society

for what they've...

I've done.

And what better way for a church to

show their belief in the gospel of grace

than have a broken vessel

like me proclaim that truth

from the pulpit

of this very church.

And from a marketing

standpoint, imagine a slogan,

"Community Bible Church,

the only church where the

pastor is far worse than you."

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