Scalp Treatment

"It took 10 years, but this mad excursion worked out." Andy Garcia is talking about Just the Ticket, a ticket-scalper movie that gets the details right, from scalper jargon—money is cheese and rich folks are Guccis—to the hero's wardrobe. This is a guy who dresses up for a date by taking the spikes out of his golf shoes. Garcia, 42, who played point guard for Miami Beach High, and writer-director Richard Wenk, 41, a former point guard for Metuchen ( N.J.) High, played driveway hoops together after both men moved to Los Angeles. Wenk told Garcia the tale of a real-life scalper he knew, and soon the two were shooting test footage as Garcia worked crowds in L.A., selling real theater tickets. "We shot the movie down and dirty, with hidden cameras and wireless microphones," says Wenk, who ultimately filmed Garcia, unscripted, peddling tickets all over New York. (Buyers who appear in the movie were signed to contracts and paid on the spot.) Just the Ticket opens Feb. 26, but the star already has a favorite review: "One girl, she comes up to me while we're shooting and says, 'Andy, you're a very good actor. You don't need to sell tickets.' "