When I was a small child, very often one story was told to us by our elders If you tell one lie, you will have to tell hundred lies to cover up that one lie. That is so true of this film. I am a huge Richard Gere fan since his An Officer and Gentleman days. So it is very easy for me to attend his cinema hall.
The story is base on the living character of Clifford Michael Irving (Richard Gere) who claimed to have written the authorized rights to write an autobiography of another American Legend Howard Hughes. A little bit history of Clifford. He was a critically acclaimed but not so financially successful author of a couple of books before he fooled McGraw-Hill publication into this lie. Clifford takes the help of his researcher friend Richard Suskind (Alfred Molina - remember villain of Spider-Man 2). Both steal Hughes confidential materials from a couple of high level places and come out with this autobiography. But covering the lie is not an easy thing especially without meeting Howard Hughes and writing his official autobiography, and throughout the movie, Clifford struggles to keep his lie going till the autobiography is fresh out of the black print. But in the end the time catches with him, and serves prison term. Later Clifford wrote this book Hoax, which is now made into this movie.
The real life Clifford Irving, still dis-owns Hoax the movie, but his name is still carried in the sub-titles as Technical Adviser.
Richard Gere has put life and sole into the psyche of Clifford's real life character, with an uncanny resemblance in their facial features, get up and style. Richard plays this obsessive liar. He is brilliantly accompanied by Alfred Molina as his friend and Marcia Gay Harden playing his second wife; both have acted brilliantly.
The Director Lasse Hallstrom, famously known for his recent award winning hit Chocolate, has done a good job. I would pick two scenes that would be memorable for me first, when in the end Clifford is forced to confess about his sexual affair by his wife as a cleansing confession of all his lies, the director instead of using a cliché of reform, shows Clifford telling another lie; the second, is a shot taken when the autobiography is launched and an out of focus Richard Gere's face stands in front of a huge hangout of Howard Hughes face looking with a suspicious sly smile towards the camera. I think both these scenes were brilliant.
I made a bit of friendship with one of a Dutch viewer lady in the theatres who also (like me) sat through to see the next movie The Dead Girl said that today's American culture of marketing is just like this movie Hoax, and every other person on the street is selling something to us with a lie.
I could not have agreed more with her.
(Stars 7 out of 10)
The story is base on the living character of Clifford Michael Irving (Richard Gere) who claimed to have written the authorized rights to write an autobiography of another American Legend Howard Hughes. A little bit history of Clifford. He was a critically acclaimed but not so financially successful author of a couple of books before he fooled McGraw-Hill publication into this lie. Clifford takes the help of his researcher friend Richard Suskind (Alfred Molina - remember villain of Spider-Man 2). Both steal Hughes confidential materials from a couple of high level places and come out with this autobiography. But covering the lie is not an easy thing especially without meeting Howard Hughes and writing his official autobiography, and throughout the movie, Clifford struggles to keep his lie going till the autobiography is fresh out of the black print. But in the end the time catches with him, and serves prison term. Later Clifford wrote this book Hoax, which is now made into this movie.
The real life Clifford Irving, still dis-owns Hoax the movie, but his name is still carried in the sub-titles as Technical Adviser.
Richard Gere has put life and sole into the psyche of Clifford's real life character, with an uncanny resemblance in their facial features, get up and style. Richard plays this obsessive liar. He is brilliantly accompanied by Alfred Molina as his friend and Marcia Gay Harden playing his second wife; both have acted brilliantly.
The Director Lasse Hallstrom, famously known for his recent award winning hit Chocolate, has done a good job. I would pick two scenes that would be memorable for me first, when in the end Clifford is forced to confess about his sexual affair by his wife as a cleansing confession of all his lies, the director instead of using a cliché of reform, shows Clifford telling another lie; the second, is a shot taken when the autobiography is launched and an out of focus Richard Gere's face stands in front of a huge hangout of Howard Hughes face looking with a suspicious sly smile towards the camera. I think both these scenes were brilliant.
I made a bit of friendship with one of a Dutch viewer lady in the theatres who also (like me) sat through to see the next movie The Dead Girl said that today's American culture of marketing is just like this movie Hoax, and every other person on the street is selling something to us with a lie.
I could not have agreed more with her.
(Stars 7 out of 10)