This movie purports to tell the story of how Clifford Irving tried to sell the faked "autobiography" of billionaire, Howard Hughes - how he concocted the idea, how he extorted money from publishers, how he had his wife, Edith, cash the publisher's check, and how he was finally unmasked by Howard Hughes himself.
But Hollywood is not satisfied with the plot elements furnished by history. Instead, it has produced a film that is not so much ABOUT a hoax, but IS ITSELF a hoax. Like Clifford Irving, the writers of the screenplay never let the truth stand in the way of telling the story they would like to tell: the story of "lying, corrupt, perfidious" Republicans and "virtuous, squeaky-clean" Democrats. While slyly suggesting to the audience that the film sticks close to the facts of the case, Hollywood grafts onto the saga of Irving and Hughes an elaborate fairytale about how Hughes bribed Nixon, leading to sundry conspiratorial complications too stupid to relate in detail. None of this material is true and none of it rings true. But since the film maker is more interested in playing politics than in making a movie, he is perfectly willing to sink his production under tons of extraneous, and unconvincing garbage.
But Hollywood is not satisfied with the plot elements furnished by history. Instead, it has produced a film that is not so much ABOUT a hoax, but IS ITSELF a hoax. Like Clifford Irving, the writers of the screenplay never let the truth stand in the way of telling the story they would like to tell: the story of "lying, corrupt, perfidious" Republicans and "virtuous, squeaky-clean" Democrats. While slyly suggesting to the audience that the film sticks close to the facts of the case, Hollywood grafts onto the saga of Irving and Hughes an elaborate fairytale about how Hughes bribed Nixon, leading to sundry conspiratorial complications too stupid to relate in detail. None of this material is true and none of it rings true. But since the film maker is more interested in playing politics than in making a movie, he is perfectly willing to sink his production under tons of extraneous, and unconvincing garbage.