I really enjoyed this film from beginning to end and generally I'm difficult to please. I'm a little older than the average audience and so I knew this story really well having watched it unfold at the time. I also remember watching Orson Welles' masterpiece 'F for Fake', based around the same subject and anyone who's seen 'The Hoax' should watch 'F for Fake'. Richard Gere, and in fact, all the cast, were at their best and delivered a great script with all the tension and dynamics it needed. Gere and Molina worked very well together and I'd say it was probably Molina's best performance to date. Beautifully shot and cut, it was pacy but not too pacy like many current films. I liked the few library shots to help with creating a feeling for the period and of course, the music helped with that too. The story was told well, although if you weren't quite familiar with the outline of what happened, there could be some moments of doubt. However, knowing the story well made it all the more enjoyable.
76 Reviews
Playful Crime
commandercool8820 April 2007
'The Hoax' is an endlessly charming and witty film, blending comedy with drama for great and successful results. Richard Gere is at the top of his game as he commands the screen, prosthetic nose included. Lasse Hallstrom's, whose films included 'Chocolate' and 'The Cider House Rules', keen sense of direction keeps the film fresh and engaging. It ultimately makes for a genuinely pleasant experience and one of the year's better pictures.
Desperate for success and wealth, Clifford Irving is about to pull off the hoax of the century. Set in the 1970s, Irving has pitched and sold his idea of a Howard Hughes biography to a premiere publishing company. Problem is, none of it's true. Irving, with his friend Dick Susskind at his side, will spin an intricate web of lies as he sets out to compile a fraud biography of Hughes and set-up staged interviews with the wealthy recluse. He soon becomes so deep in all of his lies that it seems inconceivable that he'll find his way out. But with each twist and turn, Irving matches with one of his own.
What makes 'The Hoax' work? It appears to be nearly flawless. Director Lasse Hallstrom keeps viewers in the moment with a nice, speedy pace. And so 'The Hoax' never wears out its welcome. It's such a quirky and original project that entertains without taking itself too seriously. It's light, witty humor mixed with dramatic effect to create what is at times a film with a dual personality, but it works out just right. 'The Hoax' has an intelligence that's sharper than most, keeping the elaborate and offbeat heist cleverly afloat rather than becoming dull and over worn. An outrageously true story of an outrageously true crime.
You may say that 'The Hoax' ultimately works because of one man, and that's Richard Gere. His best performance in years, Gere commands the screen as the man behind the heist (and nose). He's sharp, humorous, tragic, and flawed. The whole package. He almost forces you to emotionally invest in his character, because he's almost too charming not to. You'll find yourself rooting for him and his cause. It's one of the best performances of the year. Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, and Marcia Gay Harden all benefit from a great script. Molina stars as the humorously bumbling sidekick who possesses what Gere does not: a conscious. Davis is wonderful as the publishing agent, and while Harden's role doesn't present her with much screen time, she delivers a strong outing with what she's given.
'The Hoax' is a remarkably well-made, well-told account of a bizarre heist. The truth is stranger than fiction, and while it's wildly strange, it's wonderfully fun and silly yet tragic and serious when it has to be. 'The Hoax' is no hand-me-down of the heist genre, but rather a worthy and memorable addition. It's one of the year's best films, and no doubt you'll get a kick out of 'The Hoax'.
Desperate for success and wealth, Clifford Irving is about to pull off the hoax of the century. Set in the 1970s, Irving has pitched and sold his idea of a Howard Hughes biography to a premiere publishing company. Problem is, none of it's true. Irving, with his friend Dick Susskind at his side, will spin an intricate web of lies as he sets out to compile a fraud biography of Hughes and set-up staged interviews with the wealthy recluse. He soon becomes so deep in all of his lies that it seems inconceivable that he'll find his way out. But with each twist and turn, Irving matches with one of his own.
What makes 'The Hoax' work? It appears to be nearly flawless. Director Lasse Hallstrom keeps viewers in the moment with a nice, speedy pace. And so 'The Hoax' never wears out its welcome. It's such a quirky and original project that entertains without taking itself too seriously. It's light, witty humor mixed with dramatic effect to create what is at times a film with a dual personality, but it works out just right. 'The Hoax' has an intelligence that's sharper than most, keeping the elaborate and offbeat heist cleverly afloat rather than becoming dull and over worn. An outrageously true story of an outrageously true crime.
You may say that 'The Hoax' ultimately works because of one man, and that's Richard Gere. His best performance in years, Gere commands the screen as the man behind the heist (and nose). He's sharp, humorous, tragic, and flawed. The whole package. He almost forces you to emotionally invest in his character, because he's almost too charming not to. You'll find yourself rooting for him and his cause. It's one of the best performances of the year. Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, and Marcia Gay Harden all benefit from a great script. Molina stars as the humorously bumbling sidekick who possesses what Gere does not: a conscious. Davis is wonderful as the publishing agent, and while Harden's role doesn't present her with much screen time, she delivers a strong outing with what she's given.
'The Hoax' is a remarkably well-made, well-told account of a bizarre heist. The truth is stranger than fiction, and while it's wildly strange, it's wonderfully fun and silly yet tragic and serious when it has to be. 'The Hoax' is no hand-me-down of the heist genre, but rather a worthy and memorable addition. It's one of the year's best films, and no doubt you'll get a kick out of 'The Hoax'.
Enjoyable "True Crime" Farce
WriterDave15 April 2007
"The Hoax" is a rollicking good time at the movies. It's a strongly written, competently directed, and well acted character study of a pathological liar, Clifford Irving. This amazing true story details the complex hoax staged by Irving, a man who in the 1970's fooled a major publisher and LIFE magazine into thinking he was writing an authorized biography of Howard Hughes. Most of the fun emerges from the extreme lengths Irving (Richard Gere) and his best friend and partner (Alfred Molina) go to pull off the hair-brained scheme. The more outrageous the lies they concoct, the more believable they become and the more money gets thrown at them.
Richard Gere has never been that good of an actor, but he's always had an arrogant charm that makes him oddly likable, and he uses that to its full extent in what is probably his most mature performance here as Clifford Irving, a arrogantly likable and charming liar. He's surrounded by a fantastic supporting cast in Alfred Molina (as his sympathetic and often comical side-kick), Marcia Gay Harden (donning blonde hair and a European accent as his long-suffering but eager to con wife), and Hope Davis (playing his publishing industry connection). Davis probably gets the best line in the film when she says to a coworker who unwittingly foils a "staged" face-to-face meeting with Hughes, "Pray that you drop dead."
The film starts slowly and plays things for "winks and laughs" and light drama. It gets slightly bogged down in the final act as the hoax crumbles under its own preposterous weight and some scenes get heavy on the melodrama. There's also some wishy-washy "conspiracy" theories floating around about the Nixon administration and Howard Hughes that maybe somewhat true, but might be another figment of Irving's fanciful imagination as this is based on his "memoirs" of the events.
These few flaws, however, don't sink the ship as the playful cast and sure-handed direction from Lasse Hallstrom (in what his probably his best work since "Cider House Rules") keep the hoax firmly afloat. What the film ultimately excels in is the connections it makes with Irving's pathological personality (that ultimately leads to severe paranoia and delusions of grandeur), the paranoia of the Nixon administration (that mirrors nicely the modern Bush administration), and the alleged over-the-top eccentricities of the infamous Howard Hughes. In his mind Irving intertwines himself with these two powerful and tragic men. The film highlights how Irving saw himself and Hughes as smooth-talking, larcenous megalomaniacs, and truly believed he was going to be a major player in world history with the take down of Nixon even though he never had direct contact with either man and based his story on gossip, hearsay, and innuendos. It's really not much of a stretch to imagine Hughes bribing Nixon and wielding power like the wizard behind the curtain in Oz, and it makes for a well told tale. Whether we believe the story ultimately lies in how much power we allow each of these men to have. In his image, Irving thought Hughes held power over everyone, and for Irving, his tiny part in all that was the greatest story of all.
Richard Gere has never been that good of an actor, but he's always had an arrogant charm that makes him oddly likable, and he uses that to its full extent in what is probably his most mature performance here as Clifford Irving, a arrogantly likable and charming liar. He's surrounded by a fantastic supporting cast in Alfred Molina (as his sympathetic and often comical side-kick), Marcia Gay Harden (donning blonde hair and a European accent as his long-suffering but eager to con wife), and Hope Davis (playing his publishing industry connection). Davis probably gets the best line in the film when she says to a coworker who unwittingly foils a "staged" face-to-face meeting with Hughes, "Pray that you drop dead."
The film starts slowly and plays things for "winks and laughs" and light drama. It gets slightly bogged down in the final act as the hoax crumbles under its own preposterous weight and some scenes get heavy on the melodrama. There's also some wishy-washy "conspiracy" theories floating around about the Nixon administration and Howard Hughes that maybe somewhat true, but might be another figment of Irving's fanciful imagination as this is based on his "memoirs" of the events.
These few flaws, however, don't sink the ship as the playful cast and sure-handed direction from Lasse Hallstrom (in what his probably his best work since "Cider House Rules") keep the hoax firmly afloat. What the film ultimately excels in is the connections it makes with Irving's pathological personality (that ultimately leads to severe paranoia and delusions of grandeur), the paranoia of the Nixon administration (that mirrors nicely the modern Bush administration), and the alleged over-the-top eccentricities of the infamous Howard Hughes. In his mind Irving intertwines himself with these two powerful and tragic men. The film highlights how Irving saw himself and Hughes as smooth-talking, larcenous megalomaniacs, and truly believed he was going to be a major player in world history with the take down of Nixon even though he never had direct contact with either man and based his story on gossip, hearsay, and innuendos. It's really not much of a stretch to imagine Hughes bribing Nixon and wielding power like the wizard behind the curtain in Oz, and it makes for a well told tale. Whether we believe the story ultimately lies in how much power we allow each of these men to have. In his image, Irving thought Hughes held power over everyone, and for Irving, his tiny part in all that was the greatest story of all.
Roma Film Festival - the Hoax: good news for Richard Gere's fans
federicaboldrini198417 October 2006
While fighting to enter in the theater where the press screening of the Roma Film Festival took place I hadn't great expectations for this film. The trailer looked so bad. More, I have never been much confident in Richard Gere's acting talents, but I must admit: in this film he proved me wrong. Appearing in almost every scene, not handsome as ever (he changed his hairline and his nose to look more like to the real Irving) Gere gives at last a good performance. I discovered he's also pretty good doing impressions - he does a great Howard Hughes, whose photos are constantly shown in the film and who, by the way, doesn't at all look like Di Caprio. Alfred Molina is also very good - hilariously funny, he's the best part in the movie. As for the supporting cast, there are pleasant cameos by Stanley Tucci and Eli Wallach. As for Richard Gere, I wasn't much confident in Lasse Hallström too - I found most of his films rather sappy. He did a good job in the Hoax though. The film has a nice "70s" look, with appropriate cinematography and a nice soundtrack as well. The one thing that didn't thoroughly convince me was the script: it started pretty well, but past the middle of the film it kinda loses its way and becomes more confused and repetitive. Still, a nice film. Gere fans, I'm sorry you will have to wait, since the opening in USA has been postponed to April, but the wait will be worth it. My rating is 7/10.
Enjoyable Screen Adaptation of a Fascinating True Story
jzappa9 April 2007
The Hoax is a screen adaptation of the true story of one of the most daring, bold, and intricate confidence schemes ever plotted. As a long-time fan of heists, cons, and trickery, I already knew the story before seeing the film, and so seeing the movie, I judged the portrayal rather than the story itself. Lasse Hallstrom does not make a great film, but he definitely makes an enjoyable film. Certain scenes aren't quite filmed the most powerful way they could be. Clean, nice, standard cinematography is used in scenes that have less atmosphere because of it. Other scenes, in particular the scenes of theft, lying, drama, and other intense things provoked by the dangerously dishonest mind of Clifford Irving, are given a thrilling, extremely exciting pins-and-needles feeling. In terms of the story, I learned a lot about it that I didn't know that amazed and impressed me, mostly involving the influence the scheme inadvertently had politically.
Richard Gere plays Clifford Irving well enough, but the entire time, I kept thinking of different actors who would've been much more becoming and much more intense. Clifford Irving was a man of dark, magnetic, manipulative vigor and depth. Gere plays him more dryly, as though Irving was virtually cool and carefree rather than coolly masking that intensity.
Alfred Molina, a scene-stealer as always, upstages Gere greatly as his nervous friend and partner in crime who is made to do all the high-risk dirty work, which translates into hilarity on screen.
The Hoax is a wonderful story and a good movie. If it had a different lead and broader scope in the directing, it could've been a wonderful movie, too.
Richard Gere plays Clifford Irving well enough, but the entire time, I kept thinking of different actors who would've been much more becoming and much more intense. Clifford Irving was a man of dark, magnetic, manipulative vigor and depth. Gere plays him more dryly, as though Irving was virtually cool and carefree rather than coolly masking that intensity.
Alfred Molina, a scene-stealer as always, upstages Gere greatly as his nervous friend and partner in crime who is made to do all the high-risk dirty work, which translates into hilarity on screen.
The Hoax is a wonderful story and a good movie. If it had a different lead and broader scope in the directing, it could've been a wonderful movie, too.
Watching Richard Gere lie
Superunknovvn3 December 2007
I watched this movie right after I had seen the amazingly boring "I'm Not There." at the Camerimage Festival in Poland. It came as a real relief to me. "The Hoax" is a pretty conventional movie about an unbelievable fraud that has taken place in the 70's. A guy called Clifford Irving actually convinced some publishers that he would write a biography about Howard Hughes authorized by no one but Hughes himself. Basically the whole movie is Richard Gere lying and dragging some people down with him. It wouldn't be such an entertaining affair if it wasn't for the great performances. Gere in particular never struck me as an outstanding actor, but he really shines here and has a great on screen-chemistry with the always good Alfred Molina.
"The Hoax" may not be Lasse Hallström's best movie, but it's a nice little companion piece to Scorsese's Hughes-biopic "The Aviator".
"The Hoax" may not be Lasse Hallström's best movie, but it's a nice little companion piece to Scorsese's Hughes-biopic "The Aviator".
The bluff
jotix10029 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It's inconceivable how Cifford Irving could pull the scam about his book on Howard Hughes. One wonders what world did all those editors lived in. The mere idea the reclusive and paranoid Hughes would consent in having his life told to all that had the money to buy the book, was just crazy. Here was a weird man that was afraid of coming in close contact with humans who wanted open himself for all to pass judgment at him, something that didn't make any sense. There were a lot of clues to be considered by all those naive, but greedy, literary figures. They preferred to go along with the hoax Mr. Irving sold them.
Clifford Irving was an ambitious man that thought his fabrications would not come back to him. He was basically a con man who pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. His life was a mess. He had cheated on his artist wife Edith for years. With the help of his assistant, the researcher Dick Suskind, he pulled one of the biggest scams in literary America by pretending he knew Hughes and that the man had entrusted him to tell his side of the story.
Lasse Hallstrom, the director, showed he had a good understanding for the material. He does a great job in the way he staged the film. This is one of his best efforts in the American cinema. The screenplay by William Wheeler is based on "The Hoax" by Clifford Irving. The book was a confession of the author chronicling his scheme to con the literary circles that thought he was a man without talent, but who jumped in the band wagon because he saw the word bestseller all over the place.
Our surprise in watching the film was Richard Gere's take on the title character. This actor does much better when he plays against the romantic personal Hollywood created for him. With his curly hair, Mr. Gere does a great Clifford Irving. Also good is Alfred Molina playing the assistant to the author. Mr. Molina is fine as the man that knows he is committing a serious fraud, but goes along with the con artist that employed him. One thing for sure, Suskind was a bad liar, something that comes across in the film.
The supporting cast include people of the caliber of Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden, two of the best actresses any director would be lucky to get to be in their films. Eli Wallach shows up as Noah Dietrich, who worked for Hughes. Stanley Tucci, Zeljko Ivanek, and the rest of the cast are fine.
Oliver Stapleton captures the images of that era well. The musical score is by Carter Burwell who has been busy lately in a lot of worthwhile projects. Credit must go to Mr. Hallstrom for this highly entertaining account of one of the biggest scams in America.
Clifford Irving was an ambitious man that thought his fabrications would not come back to him. He was basically a con man who pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. His life was a mess. He had cheated on his artist wife Edith for years. With the help of his assistant, the researcher Dick Suskind, he pulled one of the biggest scams in literary America by pretending he knew Hughes and that the man had entrusted him to tell his side of the story.
Lasse Hallstrom, the director, showed he had a good understanding for the material. He does a great job in the way he staged the film. This is one of his best efforts in the American cinema. The screenplay by William Wheeler is based on "The Hoax" by Clifford Irving. The book was a confession of the author chronicling his scheme to con the literary circles that thought he was a man without talent, but who jumped in the band wagon because he saw the word bestseller all over the place.
Our surprise in watching the film was Richard Gere's take on the title character. This actor does much better when he plays against the romantic personal Hollywood created for him. With his curly hair, Mr. Gere does a great Clifford Irving. Also good is Alfred Molina playing the assistant to the author. Mr. Molina is fine as the man that knows he is committing a serious fraud, but goes along with the con artist that employed him. One thing for sure, Suskind was a bad liar, something that comes across in the film.
The supporting cast include people of the caliber of Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden, two of the best actresses any director would be lucky to get to be in their films. Eli Wallach shows up as Noah Dietrich, who worked for Hughes. Stanley Tucci, Zeljko Ivanek, and the rest of the cast are fine.
Oliver Stapleton captures the images of that era well. The musical score is by Carter Burwell who has been busy lately in a lot of worthwhile projects. Credit must go to Mr. Hallstrom for this highly entertaining account of one of the biggest scams in America.
Ramifications of a Hoax
gradyharp18 October 2007
Clifford Irving (Fake, Trial, Final Argument, The Spring) became a sort of national hero when he contrived to publish 'The Autobiography of Howard Hughes', a 400 page phony but well researched book that, while it was never published, did cause enough of a stir among the New York publishing cognoscenti and those surrounding the then President Richard Nixon that it now is recognized as a HOAX of writing that triggered the final discovery of the Watergate Scandal and the subsequent dethroning of Nixon. Those facts alone make this sometimes rather tepid film interesting enough to sit through. Screenwriter William Wheeler has adapted Irving's book into a study of the 1970s and Lasse Hallström gives it just the right balance between soft crime and strange comedy to keep it afloat.
Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) is down on his literary luck, searching for the right kind of story that will set is publisher Andrea Tate (Hope Davis) on fire. Irving wife Edith (Marcia Gay Harden) is an active painter and doesn't give Irving the support he gets from his pal Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), but on the messy floor of Edith's studio is a rag magazine with a cover picture of the mysterious Howard Hughes and bingo! up comes the idea for an 'autobiography' of the wizard as confided to Irving and researched by Suskind. That is really the plot then, how these two men squirm around lies and good luck to forge papers and gain the favor of the publishers. Of course it all caves in, but in the publicity about the book Nixon's secrets are revealed and the rest is history.
Gere, Molina, Harden, Davis, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delphy and Eli Wallach add immeasurably to the success of the film. No, it is not a heavy story, but the scandalous years of the 1970s are treated realistically and provide a lot of memories, both good and bad, about how we all changed in that post Vietnam time. Worth watching for that! Grady Harp
Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) is down on his literary luck, searching for the right kind of story that will set is publisher Andrea Tate (Hope Davis) on fire. Irving wife Edith (Marcia Gay Harden) is an active painter and doesn't give Irving the support he gets from his pal Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), but on the messy floor of Edith's studio is a rag magazine with a cover picture of the mysterious Howard Hughes and bingo! up comes the idea for an 'autobiography' of the wizard as confided to Irving and researched by Suskind. That is really the plot then, how these two men squirm around lies and good luck to forge papers and gain the favor of the publishers. Of course it all caves in, but in the publicity about the book Nixon's secrets are revealed and the rest is history.
Gere, Molina, Harden, Davis, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delphy and Eli Wallach add immeasurably to the success of the film. No, it is not a heavy story, but the scandalous years of the 1970s are treated realistically and provide a lot of memories, both good and bad, about how we all changed in that post Vietnam time. Worth watching for that! Grady Harp
A character driven drama of the highest caliber
space_base21 April 2007
Now here's a movie almost doomed to the back pages of cinema history. Only playing at one cinema in my area and having grossed a mere 3 million in two weeks at the box office, it might just be only a matter of time before this movie fades away and is forgotten. That would be quite the shame as the Hoax is quite the movie, and a real treat for the very few people who are actually willing to give it a chance.
"The Hoax" is the story of Clifford Irving, a struggling author pitching ideas to the McGraw-Hill company. As his most recent novel is blasted by critics before release, a desperate Clifford promises his editors and publishers the story of the century, without having precisely figured out what that is. That is until he stumbles onto it (literally). Clifford decides to con the whole world into believing that the reclusive enigmatic billionaire Howard Hughes has commissioned him to write his autobiography.
What follows is an intriguing and enthralling romp through the mazes of lies and deceptions that Clifford and is "co-author" Dick Suskind have spun. Eventually, the fictitious story snowballs past anything the two writers could believe as revelations into accounts of fraud and blackmail begin to penetrate the highest offices, and it all begins to come crashing down.
"The Hoax" is a character driven drama of the highest caliber. The sharp direction and writing, and excellent casting make it hard to ignore. Richard Gere and Alfred Molina give career high performances, and the supporting Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Hayden just round the film off nicely.
This is one of the best movies of 2007 so far. It may not have as wide an appeal as other outings, but it's thoroughly enjoyable all the same.
4.5/5
"The Hoax" is the story of Clifford Irving, a struggling author pitching ideas to the McGraw-Hill company. As his most recent novel is blasted by critics before release, a desperate Clifford promises his editors and publishers the story of the century, without having precisely figured out what that is. That is until he stumbles onto it (literally). Clifford decides to con the whole world into believing that the reclusive enigmatic billionaire Howard Hughes has commissioned him to write his autobiography.
What follows is an intriguing and enthralling romp through the mazes of lies and deceptions that Clifford and is "co-author" Dick Suskind have spun. Eventually, the fictitious story snowballs past anything the two writers could believe as revelations into accounts of fraud and blackmail begin to penetrate the highest offices, and it all begins to come crashing down.
"The Hoax" is a character driven drama of the highest caliber. The sharp direction and writing, and excellent casting make it hard to ignore. Richard Gere and Alfred Molina give career high performances, and the supporting Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Hayden just round the film off nicely.
This is one of the best movies of 2007 so far. It may not have as wide an appeal as other outings, but it's thoroughly enjoyable all the same.
4.5/5
a film about trickery, done in a tricky style that works, with crackling performances
Quinoa198421 April 2007
Lasse Halstrom isn't out, as a film-making, to make really extreme and probing insights into what goes into a prankster/forger like Clifford Irving. Maybe it's because he, like I, saw Orson Welles's film F For Fake, which covered similar ground and has the only substantial footage of Clifford Irving on record and in full bloom with his BS meter going sky-high. That film, overall, dug very deep into what is to have forgery, a hoax, as part of personality. Halstrom doesn't quite get that, but nevertheless he's made an entertaining mini-saga of a man- or rather men in this case- who went to the edge of credibility and almost got away with the whole shebang. His story, as covered as well in part in F for Fake, is about Irving's incredibly smart and incredibly stupid attempt at passing off as his own the autobiography of Howard Hughes, then the notoriously reclusive and nutty billionaire with his fingers in enterprises all over the world. He passes off Hughes's handwriting to the publishers and lawyers as his, even as it's really Irving who wrote it all, and even went so far as to have mock audio recordings of Irving AS Hughes to get down in the book via assistant Dick Suskind. As the walls seem to be closing in on their scam, as well as Irving's marriage, it goes as far as mass printings of the book Irving presents- until the 'real' Hughes makes a press conference call (call, of course), to disprove the book altogether as a hoax.
Halstrom surprisingly makes his film light and dark in tone, depending on what stage the story is in, and it's even fun at times to see Irving and Suskind go about their risk-taking maneuvers to get all documents and information they can on Hughes, as if it's guerrilla research. Then as the despair of constant lying increases, and the threat of capture and revelation is nearer, Halstrom makes it more like a paranoid thriller. This latter part may actually be not quite as convincing- so to speak of course, as one can't be sure entirely what's true or not in The Hoax- because, simply, one might not see Irving so much as a crazy person ala Hughes so much as a kind of strange artist-cum-professional at what he does: to make himself believe the BS before he even feeds it to others. Scenes like Irving getting caught by Hughes's "secret agents" in the middle of the night are not as striking as Halstrom might have intended, even as all the while the performances are still good. And the realm of placing the story in context of the times is hit or miss; it works, to be sure, when going into the Nixon administration sections because it's crucial to the story (and, according to some articles on the film, is possibly really accurate), though putting in the footage of Vietnam and protesters and so forth are sort of padding to environment and period. The music, costumes, locations (i.e. Las Vegas) and simple political ramifications make it enough.
This being said, The Hoax provides the audience with some very effective performances. Gere, under the right director, can be terrific, and this is one of his best performances in years, as he balances out Irving's higher aspirations of wealth and notoriety with his latter plunge into confusing his own personality with that of Hughes, with suspicions of everything or anyone around him. The filmmakers wisely don't make Irving very sympathetic, and Gere plays this for all it's worth with moments of charm, tension, and delusions of grandeur played out wonderfully. However, if Gere is good, Alfred Molina is better as Suskind, Irving's collaborator and the real behind-the-scenes guy who helps make Irving's fabrications all the more palatable, like hiding documents out of the Pentagon or flying to another country to mail an envelope. Suskind, unlike Irving, ends up dealing with the hoax with more of a psychological/moral burden, and it ends up weighing on his conscience like a brick. It might make Suskind the more conventional character in the movie, but Molina makes him very real and more of the tragic case than Gere's Irving. Molina's track record, at the least, remains untarnished. Other supporting players like Marcia Hay Harden, Julie Delpy, Eli Wallach, and Stanley Tucci are better than average here.
The Hoax is a good treat in this month's lot of schlock and big-budget trash by sticking close to making it an actor's movie, and sort of a bittersweet take on what a hoax does in such a grand scale as that of Howard Hughes, and what it does to a person the longer and more intense it goes on for.
Halstrom surprisingly makes his film light and dark in tone, depending on what stage the story is in, and it's even fun at times to see Irving and Suskind go about their risk-taking maneuvers to get all documents and information they can on Hughes, as if it's guerrilla research. Then as the despair of constant lying increases, and the threat of capture and revelation is nearer, Halstrom makes it more like a paranoid thriller. This latter part may actually be not quite as convincing- so to speak of course, as one can't be sure entirely what's true or not in The Hoax- because, simply, one might not see Irving so much as a crazy person ala Hughes so much as a kind of strange artist-cum-professional at what he does: to make himself believe the BS before he even feeds it to others. Scenes like Irving getting caught by Hughes's "secret agents" in the middle of the night are not as striking as Halstrom might have intended, even as all the while the performances are still good. And the realm of placing the story in context of the times is hit or miss; it works, to be sure, when going into the Nixon administration sections because it's crucial to the story (and, according to some articles on the film, is possibly really accurate), though putting in the footage of Vietnam and protesters and so forth are sort of padding to environment and period. The music, costumes, locations (i.e. Las Vegas) and simple political ramifications make it enough.
This being said, The Hoax provides the audience with some very effective performances. Gere, under the right director, can be terrific, and this is one of his best performances in years, as he balances out Irving's higher aspirations of wealth and notoriety with his latter plunge into confusing his own personality with that of Hughes, with suspicions of everything or anyone around him. The filmmakers wisely don't make Irving very sympathetic, and Gere plays this for all it's worth with moments of charm, tension, and delusions of grandeur played out wonderfully. However, if Gere is good, Alfred Molina is better as Suskind, Irving's collaborator and the real behind-the-scenes guy who helps make Irving's fabrications all the more palatable, like hiding documents out of the Pentagon or flying to another country to mail an envelope. Suskind, unlike Irving, ends up dealing with the hoax with more of a psychological/moral burden, and it ends up weighing on his conscience like a brick. It might make Suskind the more conventional character in the movie, but Molina makes him very real and more of the tragic case than Gere's Irving. Molina's track record, at the least, remains untarnished. Other supporting players like Marcia Hay Harden, Julie Delpy, Eli Wallach, and Stanley Tucci are better than average here.
The Hoax is a good treat in this month's lot of schlock and big-budget trash by sticking close to making it an actor's movie, and sort of a bittersweet take on what a hoax does in such a grand scale as that of Howard Hughes, and what it does to a person the longer and more intense it goes on for.
"Hoax" is a winner
dhaufrect-130 April 2007
Lasse Hallstrom has directed a compelling recreation of Clifford Irivng's novel in "Hoax". It is a retelling of the risky writing of the fake autobiography of Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire from Texas. Richard Gere gives a satisfying performance in his torn character of Clifford Irving himself. He is also convincing in his ability to show his simultaneous success and guiltless feelings in writing his so-called autobiography. Alfred Molina gives an emotional performance as Dick Suskind, Irving's loyal friend and co-writer. Marcia Gay Harden is a genuine Edith Irving in this disturbing story. And Julie Delpy is exquisite as Nina Van Pallandt, the paramour that Irving drags into his ploy. It makes for a nice cinema, and likely a good read.
appealing story
antoniotierno9 February 2007
The plot is inspired by true events and is definitely interesting due to its telling about one of the most famous media scams in history. Richard Gere stars as Clifford Irving and is supported by other valuable actors, such as Alfred Molina and Hope Davis; the film is not exceptional and deliberately jarring but facts it is based upon are relevant and add details to Howard Hughes life - we knew about watching another first-rate flick, "The Aviator". I think "The Hoax" is quite exciting because these events were funny but exceptional - no bogus interview had been so much advertised - and also for its showing Gere stepping away from his usual roles.
Never allow a few facts to inhibit your imagination....
merklekranz12 May 2008
There is nothing more interesting than a good hoax. The " Cardiff Giant" was a hoax that was mesmerizing for it's ingenuity. While this movie, "The Hoax", has the basis for maintaining interest, it is badly blurred between speculation and facts, takes liberties with the audience, and ultimately fails as entertainment. The acting, especially by Richard Gere is good, but character development is minimal, and there are absolutely zero likable characters. The film is entirely too long and the conclusion such a stretch that any remaining credibility flies out the window. Finally, the authentic 70s soundtrack seems better suited to a biker movie than "The Hoax" - MERK
The Hoax
rajdoctor15 June 2007
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)
Better than most
JohnDeSando6 April 2007
"I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavor of mortality in lies, -- which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world -- what I want to forget." Marlow in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
"Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" or something like that. We Catholics have been taught never to lie in about the same way we were warned that masturbation leads to blindness. Well, liars anyway seem to do quite well, thank you, if you consider the WMD president still rules.
Thus, Lasse Halstrom's entertaining Hoax, about one of the twentieth century's consummate liars, Clifford Irving, is a comedy that makes the fabricator of The Autobiography of Howard Hughes an endearing rogue rather than a crook he was. Given Irving wrote that fabrication at the time of Richard Nixon's descent, I suppose those larcenous con-men were just two of many who thrived in the '70's.
In fact, in the '60's flourished the impersonator Frank Abagnale, Jr., played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can, and in the '90's Stephen Glass (Hayden Christiansen) in Shattered Glass fooled many a smart newspaper publisher with his faux articles. Most of these miscreants have been lionized by film, or at least made attractive with attractive stars playing them and stories attracting our abiding interest in anti-heroes who fool the establishment.
Richard Gere's Irving is not as disarming as Leo's Abagnale and maybe a better performance for that lack of charm. His Irving launches the Hughes hoax by successfully forging Hughes' letters and somewhat awkwardly but successfully convincing McGraw Hill to publish a work that, if it weren't for the greed of all involved, should have been certifiably faux, notwithstanding the first-rate forgery. For, although Hughes was notoriously reclusive, and maybe insane, he would most likely never have authorized the work.
Although most of the film fulfills the early claim that it's "based on actual events," the latter part emphasizes a link to Watergate that seems questionable a best. Otherwise, the depiction of the mistakes made in publishing and the personal losses for Irving seem authentic and logical given the times and the eccentric billionaire, who himself seemed to be waiting for someone to peal away his privacy.
The Hoax, better than most docudramas, shows what Irving claimed, that "a man who says something completely implausible will always be believed."
"Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" or something like that. We Catholics have been taught never to lie in about the same way we were warned that masturbation leads to blindness. Well, liars anyway seem to do quite well, thank you, if you consider the WMD president still rules.
Thus, Lasse Halstrom's entertaining Hoax, about one of the twentieth century's consummate liars, Clifford Irving, is a comedy that makes the fabricator of The Autobiography of Howard Hughes an endearing rogue rather than a crook he was. Given Irving wrote that fabrication at the time of Richard Nixon's descent, I suppose those larcenous con-men were just two of many who thrived in the '70's.
In fact, in the '60's flourished the impersonator Frank Abagnale, Jr., played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can, and in the '90's Stephen Glass (Hayden Christiansen) in Shattered Glass fooled many a smart newspaper publisher with his faux articles. Most of these miscreants have been lionized by film, or at least made attractive with attractive stars playing them and stories attracting our abiding interest in anti-heroes who fool the establishment.
Richard Gere's Irving is not as disarming as Leo's Abagnale and maybe a better performance for that lack of charm. His Irving launches the Hughes hoax by successfully forging Hughes' letters and somewhat awkwardly but successfully convincing McGraw Hill to publish a work that, if it weren't for the greed of all involved, should have been certifiably faux, notwithstanding the first-rate forgery. For, although Hughes was notoriously reclusive, and maybe insane, he would most likely never have authorized the work.
Although most of the film fulfills the early claim that it's "based on actual events," the latter part emphasizes a link to Watergate that seems questionable a best. Otherwise, the depiction of the mistakes made in publishing and the personal losses for Irving seem authentic and logical given the times and the eccentric billionaire, who himself seemed to be waiting for someone to peal away his privacy.
The Hoax, better than most docudramas, shows what Irving claimed, that "a man who says something completely implausible will always be believed."
Would I Lie to You?
ferguson-615 April 2007
Greetings again from the darkness. Although not a great filmmaker, director Lasse Hallstrom has a quality resume of films including "An Unfinished Life", "Chocolat", "The Cider House Rules" and his best film, "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". It is painful to watch a liar in action ... even on film. It cuts to the core of what makes us human and our natural tendency to believe others. Combine that with another common human trait - greed - and the combination sets us up for real life con artists such as those seen in "Catch Me If You Can" and "Shattered Glass".
This film is based on writer Clifford Irving's implausible con of publishing giant McGraw-Hill as he presented his "The Autobiography of Howard Hughes". His presentation was replete with high quality forged handwritten notes from the reclusive Hughes. Conspiracy theories abound as ties are made to President Nixon, Watergate and judicial system. Also touched on is Hughes' personal secret service that was supposedly loyal and well paid to protect his privacy. The conference call that Hughes makes to shut down the project and expose Mr. Irving was Hughes' last known public "appearance" until his death.
The film is very entertaining and at times funny. If you weren't aware of the mystery surrounding the enigmatic Hughes during this time period, some of the power of the film will be lost. This is without a doubt Richard Gere's best film performance ever. It took much more than his usual posing and preening and mumbling ... this was a real acting job! Strong support work comes from Alfred Molina (as Dick Susskind, Irving's friend and co-conspirator) and a blonde Marcia Gay Harden as Irving's wife. Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delpy and the great Eli Wallach also have pivotal support roles. It is a pleasure to catch Stuart Margolin in a brief role. Have enjoyed his work since "Rockford Files".
Hallstom deserves some credit for getting the performance from Gere and creating enough suspense and drama for an entertaining two hours. Worth seeing as a reminder that there are some slick con men out there and they may actually be people you kind of like. Don't miss the soundtrack with work from the great and under-appreciated Richie Havens.
This film is based on writer Clifford Irving's implausible con of publishing giant McGraw-Hill as he presented his "The Autobiography of Howard Hughes". His presentation was replete with high quality forged handwritten notes from the reclusive Hughes. Conspiracy theories abound as ties are made to President Nixon, Watergate and judicial system. Also touched on is Hughes' personal secret service that was supposedly loyal and well paid to protect his privacy. The conference call that Hughes makes to shut down the project and expose Mr. Irving was Hughes' last known public "appearance" until his death.
The film is very entertaining and at times funny. If you weren't aware of the mystery surrounding the enigmatic Hughes during this time period, some of the power of the film will be lost. This is without a doubt Richard Gere's best film performance ever. It took much more than his usual posing and preening and mumbling ... this was a real acting job! Strong support work comes from Alfred Molina (as Dick Susskind, Irving's friend and co-conspirator) and a blonde Marcia Gay Harden as Irving's wife. Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delpy and the great Eli Wallach also have pivotal support roles. It is a pleasure to catch Stuart Margolin in a brief role. Have enjoyed his work since "Rockford Files".
Hallstom deserves some credit for getting the performance from Gere and creating enough suspense and drama for an entertaining two hours. Worth seeing as a reminder that there are some slick con men out there and they may actually be people you kind of like. Don't miss the soundtrack with work from the great and under-appreciated Richie Havens.
This is finally the movie that Richard Gere was born to star in
funkyfry9 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I was interested in this film because I'm a big fan of Orson Welles' "F For Fake". Those who enjoy "The Hoax" and haven't seen Welles' film should seek it out for a truly great treat, because then you'll be able to compare Gere's performance as Clifford Irving with the real Clifford Irving, or at least as close to the real Irving as any camera can capture. I have to say that I usually detest Richard Gere, and he can be a horrible actor even with a good director. It seems like he usually holds something back and tries really hard to make all his characters "charming" in a kind of generic way. But Richard Gere was born to play Clifford Irving, with his ratlike face and devil's smile. All the fake charm that Gere has spent an entire career projecting sits on Irving's shoulders quite comfortably.
This film only briefly touches on the subject of Irving's biography of Elmyr D'Hory, and is mainly about his great hoax to convince the world that he had written Howard Hughes' autobiography along with the famously reclusive billionaire. Along with his researcher Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), Gere trots from Mexico to Vegas in pursuit of information that will make his book stand up, and in a grand moment of self-delusional folly believes that Hughes himself will not be bothered to refute the book. Ultimately he uncovers information that he believes will be damaging to the Nixon administration, and becomes convinced that "Howard is with us!" and that Hughes wants to see the book published. But does Hughes really want Irving to succeed, or is he simply using him as a pawn in his game? Gere could only give such a great performance in the role of an actor. But I can't imagine the movie with anybody else, and if he does nothing else worthwhile in his career then I would praise him just for this. It's a funny movie ("He gave me a prune!"), with some interesting ideas about the art of fakery, and it generally avoids the peril and cheap allure of making Irving too sympathetic or heroic. We constantly see both Irving as he sees himself -- a man of destiny, the next Hemmingway -- and Irving as most others see him -- a predatory con-man who abuses the trust placed in him by even his closest friends and lovers. Director Lasse Hallstrom, as he has for his whole career, does not allow stylistic flourish to clutter up the film but instead focuses intently on the characters. The resulting film is effective, but very odd -- a very understated movie about a very overstated human being.
This film only briefly touches on the subject of Irving's biography of Elmyr D'Hory, and is mainly about his great hoax to convince the world that he had written Howard Hughes' autobiography along with the famously reclusive billionaire. Along with his researcher Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), Gere trots from Mexico to Vegas in pursuit of information that will make his book stand up, and in a grand moment of self-delusional folly believes that Hughes himself will not be bothered to refute the book. Ultimately he uncovers information that he believes will be damaging to the Nixon administration, and becomes convinced that "Howard is with us!" and that Hughes wants to see the book published. But does Hughes really want Irving to succeed, or is he simply using him as a pawn in his game? Gere could only give such a great performance in the role of an actor. But I can't imagine the movie with anybody else, and if he does nothing else worthwhile in his career then I would praise him just for this. It's a funny movie ("He gave me a prune!"), with some interesting ideas about the art of fakery, and it generally avoids the peril and cheap allure of making Irving too sympathetic or heroic. We constantly see both Irving as he sees himself -- a man of destiny, the next Hemmingway -- and Irving as most others see him -- a predatory con-man who abuses the trust placed in him by even his closest friends and lovers. Director Lasse Hallstrom, as he has for his whole career, does not allow stylistic flourish to clutter up the film but instead focuses intently on the characters. The resulting film is effective, but very odd -- a very understated movie about a very overstated human being.
"A man walks in, he says something completely implausible, and for that reason, he is believed."
classicsoncall21 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The bigger the lie, the easier it is to be believed. Clifford Irving not only believed it, he lived it. After watching this film, I came to realize that Irving's real ambition should have been to be a politician. Cutting out all the middle men, he could have supplemented his bank account with real money. You can't really know how much of the story presented here actually happened that way, the sequences of Irving's delusions about being kidnapped by Hughes' men and thrown out an upper story window is one such example. But he was a con man, that's for sure, and if you were around during the era this occurred, you might have gotten caught up in the drama of Irving's fantasy. Even the real life rebuttal by Howard Hughes didn't do much to dissuade the hustler from trying to cash in even more on his fakery. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on what side of the fence you're on, Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) wound up spending time for his hoax, and as the closing segment resonates with the words to the Stones song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want", you'd have to pretty much agree that the guy wound up getting what he deserved.
Many weak points
bandw10 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This movie about Clifford Irving and his writing a fake autobiography of the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes missed the mark for me in several ways. The credits say that this is basically a true story, but then indicate that it is based on Irving's own book, "The Hoax." Clearly Irving was a skilled enough con man to fool the best people in the publishing industry, but I kept thinking of the testimony of a man on the witness stand when he confesses that he has lied on a major topic in the past and the interrogating lawyer asks the obvious question, "If you lied in the past, why should we believe you now?" So, I approached this with a low desire to suspend disbelief.
Probably many younger viewers have never even heard of Howard Hughes and this movie fails to give much indication of why he was a person of any interest beyond his simply being an eccentric and powerful man. If the current president of Exxon Mobile were a bit of an eccentric, would there be a similar interest in him today? I think not. A case needed to be made, and was not made, why Hughes commanded such public interest that an autobiography would be a major publishing event.
I appreciate that attention was given to details to indicate that the time was the early 1970s, like the telephones, cars, typewriters, recording devices, Nixon and Vietnam on TV, and so forth. However, I found the musical soundtrack that consisted of 1970s pop music such as, among others, Creedance Clearwater songs, Richie Haven's version of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," and The Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," set a totally wrong tone. I seriously doubt that Irving, or more particularly the moguls he was dealing with, were really plugged into those songs at the time. The soundtrack created a certain frivolous mood that increased my difficulties in taking this movie seriously.
The value of a movie such as this is to get a better understanding of a person like Irving, but Richard Gere's performance did not get me very far down that road. Surely the real Irving was more wily and charming than what we see here. In fact, just the brief glimpses of the real Irving on the DVD extras made me want to know more about him. Think of what we would have had if a forty-year-old Jack Nicholson had played this part. I think we would have had something closer to the real Irving. In an interview with Mike Wallace, when Wallace asked Irving why he persisted in his ruse, his response was, "I was on the lying train and couldn't get off." That comment was a cut above any of the dialog in the movie. And are we to believe that Irving came to believe in his own hoax by taking on the persona of Hughes? Was he the kind of person to be racked with guilt? I doubt it.
The banter between Irving and his co-conspirator, and friend, Dick Suskind got to be tiresome. Rather than affectionate barbs exchanged between friends (which I think was the intent) the decibel levels of many of their exchanges reached unnecessarily high levels. The interactions between these friends were amped up to pump up the energy I think. This tendency to exaggerate was apparent in many scenes such as the one that had the two running down flights of stairs in order to escape from an awkward meeting.
A scene that continues to puzzle me is where the box of file folders came from that appeared on Irving's doorstep. The folder on Hughes in that box contained some very damaging information about Hughes' making a suspicious loan to Nixon's brother as well as bribing a friend of Nixon's. Apparently there still is speculation that one of the motivations for the Watergate burglary was to retrieve possibly incriminating dealings with Hughes. That would make some sense, since on its face the Watergate burglary seemed only stupid.
It is interesting to consider what would have happened if Hughes had not come out of the woodwork to repudiate any knowledge of knowing Irving, or ever having had any contact with him. Hughes may have become known for all time by a fake autobiography. It gives one pause when thinking about what are facts, what are embellishments, and what are falsehoods in recorded history. Wikipedia introduces more uncertainty in this area.
Probably many younger viewers have never even heard of Howard Hughes and this movie fails to give much indication of why he was a person of any interest beyond his simply being an eccentric and powerful man. If the current president of Exxon Mobile were a bit of an eccentric, would there be a similar interest in him today? I think not. A case needed to be made, and was not made, why Hughes commanded such public interest that an autobiography would be a major publishing event.
I appreciate that attention was given to details to indicate that the time was the early 1970s, like the telephones, cars, typewriters, recording devices, Nixon and Vietnam on TV, and so forth. However, I found the musical soundtrack that consisted of 1970s pop music such as, among others, Creedance Clearwater songs, Richie Haven's version of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," and The Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," set a totally wrong tone. I seriously doubt that Irving, or more particularly the moguls he was dealing with, were really plugged into those songs at the time. The soundtrack created a certain frivolous mood that increased my difficulties in taking this movie seriously.
The value of a movie such as this is to get a better understanding of a person like Irving, but Richard Gere's performance did not get me very far down that road. Surely the real Irving was more wily and charming than what we see here. In fact, just the brief glimpses of the real Irving on the DVD extras made me want to know more about him. Think of what we would have had if a forty-year-old Jack Nicholson had played this part. I think we would have had something closer to the real Irving. In an interview with Mike Wallace, when Wallace asked Irving why he persisted in his ruse, his response was, "I was on the lying train and couldn't get off." That comment was a cut above any of the dialog in the movie. And are we to believe that Irving came to believe in his own hoax by taking on the persona of Hughes? Was he the kind of person to be racked with guilt? I doubt it.
The banter between Irving and his co-conspirator, and friend, Dick Suskind got to be tiresome. Rather than affectionate barbs exchanged between friends (which I think was the intent) the decibel levels of many of their exchanges reached unnecessarily high levels. The interactions between these friends were amped up to pump up the energy I think. This tendency to exaggerate was apparent in many scenes such as the one that had the two running down flights of stairs in order to escape from an awkward meeting.
A scene that continues to puzzle me is where the box of file folders came from that appeared on Irving's doorstep. The folder on Hughes in that box contained some very damaging information about Hughes' making a suspicious loan to Nixon's brother as well as bribing a friend of Nixon's. Apparently there still is speculation that one of the motivations for the Watergate burglary was to retrieve possibly incriminating dealings with Hughes. That would make some sense, since on its face the Watergate burglary seemed only stupid.
It is interesting to consider what would have happened if Hughes had not come out of the woodwork to repudiate any knowledge of knowing Irving, or ever having had any contact with him. Hughes may have become known for all time by a fake autobiography. It gives one pause when thinking about what are facts, what are embellishments, and what are falsehoods in recorded history. Wikipedia introduces more uncertainty in this area.
Not bad
MSchlaf31 March 2007
Saw a sneak preview of this earlier this evening. Not bad as some other comments would have you believe, but not perfect either. The historical details are a bit inaccurate in some areas, but those are relatively minor ones which don't affect the story too much. At it's core, the film focuses on the lies told by Clifford Irving and how he charmed everyone into believing them. The lies don't just affect his writing career, but also the lives of those around him and eventually comes to the point where it's difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in what Irving says, a task which is made all the more difficult given the eccentricity of nearly everything done by Howard Hughes during that period of time. Overall, the film isn't too bad, the main characters are nicely developed, the plot is interesting, and the acting isn't bad. The subtle 1970s touches (vintage Coca Cola and Tab cans, news footage, hairstyles, commercials, cars, Watergate, etc) also make it fun to watch. Overall, the story, acting, and the attention to detail force me to give this a 8/10 despite the few flaws here and there. Definitely a must see for the Howard Hughes buffs along with "The Aviator".
Detached Convoluted Story shallow overall
pc952 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The Hoax is an emotionally detached movie who's material is not very satisfying to watch. It's like watching a movie about how people go crazy over seeing or being identified with movie stars in public and what that could drive someone into doing - at the core trying to gain power, fame and wealth - or to walk among societal knowns for the sake of the spotlight. This doesn't make for compelling motivations or identifiable sympathies. It's quite shallow, pretentious, and pathetic. The acting is pretty well done although any dramatic elements in the movie feel coy and suffer from the main drive of the movie. The convolution of lies eventually catch up, but there's no redemptive value or emotional investment to make it worthwhile. Glitzy and unsubstantial.
Richard's Grand Showcase
aharmas6 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
In order to pull off the biggest deception of the decade, Gere must impersonate a man who is talented, reckless, and deluded, able to charm and manipulate even those are apparently "smarter" than him. Gere does a superb job recreating this literary illusionist, an author able to create world both on his mind, and quite effectively around him.
Throughout the film, Gere keeps the energy level high, sometimes, having his fabrications take over reality, as we are treated to passages where both reality and "his reality" blur. This device used, in a recent Oscar winner, where it symbolized paranoia, works much better here, as it helps us understand the obsession behind the ploy.
Gere has for many years, played second fiddle to other more established stars, making them look much better than they really were, and it has been a disservice to this very talented actor. In past years, he has brought fame or revived the careers of many famous Hollywood leading ladies. Sadly, we have neglected to recognize his true value. In "Hoax", he is the centerpiece, and should his acting ever falter, the entire illusion would crumble as well. Fortunately for us, he is brilliant at every move, being so good that he brings to life the object of his obsession as well. There are passages here than feel more real than anything portrayed in "The Aviator", even though we see mostly stills and a couple of brief videos of Hughes himself.
Gere once works magnificently with the rest of his supporting players, from Hope Davis to Alfred Molina, and giving his scenes with Tucci and Gay Harden more gravitas than one would expect from their very short screen time. "The Hoax" succeeds in his depiction of the travesty that involved the production of a fake book, a deal that fooled its most immediate audience and the nation.
Hopefully Gere will receive his due, escaping from the kiss of death for those who just happen to be consistently good: there will be another stellar performance along the way. Recognize the present, and the present is golden.
Throughout the film, Gere keeps the energy level high, sometimes, having his fabrications take over reality, as we are treated to passages where both reality and "his reality" blur. This device used, in a recent Oscar winner, where it symbolized paranoia, works much better here, as it helps us understand the obsession behind the ploy.
Gere has for many years, played second fiddle to other more established stars, making them look much better than they really were, and it has been a disservice to this very talented actor. In past years, he has brought fame or revived the careers of many famous Hollywood leading ladies. Sadly, we have neglected to recognize his true value. In "Hoax", he is the centerpiece, and should his acting ever falter, the entire illusion would crumble as well. Fortunately for us, he is brilliant at every move, being so good that he brings to life the object of his obsession as well. There are passages here than feel more real than anything portrayed in "The Aviator", even though we see mostly stills and a couple of brief videos of Hughes himself.
Gere once works magnificently with the rest of his supporting players, from Hope Davis to Alfred Molina, and giving his scenes with Tucci and Gay Harden more gravitas than one would expect from their very short screen time. "The Hoax" succeeds in his depiction of the travesty that involved the production of a fake book, a deal that fooled its most immediate audience and the nation.
Hopefully Gere will receive his due, escaping from the kiss of death for those who just happen to be consistently good: there will be another stellar performance along the way. Recognize the present, and the present is golden.
A bit too light hearted to be taken seriously
dbborroughs29 August 2007
Richard Gere stars in the story of Clifford Irving and his attempt to sell the the Howard Hughes autobiography.
This humorous telling of the tale either will work for you or it won't for me it just sort of missed. The problem for me was that the same story was told with the actual people in Orson Welles great film F is for Fake. Having that film in may head made the often silly presentation here, difficult to take. Its not bad but it not really believable as Marcia Gay Harden's accent make abundantly clear. Its dress up time more than anything else.
If you can get past the artificial nature of the presentation then you're going to have a good time.
This humorous telling of the tale either will work for you or it won't for me it just sort of missed. The problem for me was that the same story was told with the actual people in Orson Welles great film F is for Fake. Having that film in may head made the often silly presentation here, difficult to take. Its not bad but it not really believable as Marcia Gay Harden's accent make abundantly clear. Its dress up time more than anything else.
If you can get past the artificial nature of the presentation then you're going to have a good time.
"Hoax" is indeed a hoax
jtbrat321 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
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.
Eye is for Inadequate
tedg14 April 2007
Some films are cursed in their birth. It will be so for you and this. That is, if you know Scorsese's best ("The Aviator"), Orson Welles' last ("F is for Fake"), and anything about the relationship between Hughes and Nixon.
Welles' film if you don't know it was an amazing hoax, conflating Hughes and Citizen Kane, Irving (who wrote the original script) and Welles, the hoax described here with the hoax of Irving's previous book on fake paintings, Welles' mistress and Picasso's lover. Its a wonderful play on the shifts between illusion and life, far more clever if not more powerful than Herzog at his best. Scorsese is celebrated for a lot, but not much that interests me. "The Aviator" did because he changed his storytelling style to be less about personalities than forces and urges, less about love and power and more about primitive urges, less about so-called ordinary life and more about movie life.
Hughes was a giant. Bill Gates is merely a thug in the robber baron mold, but Hughes was an engineer, a real engineer. It was his vision that was the major force in retooling the US military around high tech rather than manufacturing power and nukes. It was his influence that shaped at least two significant presidencies, and created the technology for the intelligence backbone now known as several agencies but in his day was the NSA. He also laid the groundwork for graft in one political party which is just now being uncovered at the scale it worked. He was big, a big man. Crazy too. My own theory of this is that he suffered what Nash did, breaking of his mind by deliberate stretching.
As far as I can tell, the Irving hoax was fabricated without any secret files provided by Hughes. That business about receiving files was inspired by a separate episode that Irving had nothing to do with nor claimed so. It seems, there WERE files stolen implicating to Nixon and so on to Watergate. The insertion of this bit into the record is a sort of double hoax.
Irving has come clean about the hoax and all its history. He was not involved in this film; other hoaxers were.
I watched it because the real story is so big, I figured even the drudge Hallstrom couldn't mess it up. There's a little merging of life and fantasy at the end, but it is the weak kind, the kind fumbled about with in the recent "Hollywoodland." I have no complaints about Gere, its the director's fault that he chose to make it about the supposedly interesting foibles of a huckster than the motions of forces of the times. Oddly, the one thing that does work is the sound track, taken from songs of the era.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
Welles' film if you don't know it was an amazing hoax, conflating Hughes and Citizen Kane, Irving (who wrote the original script) and Welles, the hoax described here with the hoax of Irving's previous book on fake paintings, Welles' mistress and Picasso's lover. Its a wonderful play on the shifts between illusion and life, far more clever if not more powerful than Herzog at his best. Scorsese is celebrated for a lot, but not much that interests me. "The Aviator" did because he changed his storytelling style to be less about personalities than forces and urges, less about love and power and more about primitive urges, less about so-called ordinary life and more about movie life.
Hughes was a giant. Bill Gates is merely a thug in the robber baron mold, but Hughes was an engineer, a real engineer. It was his vision that was the major force in retooling the US military around high tech rather than manufacturing power and nukes. It was his influence that shaped at least two significant presidencies, and created the technology for the intelligence backbone now known as several agencies but in his day was the NSA. He also laid the groundwork for graft in one political party which is just now being uncovered at the scale it worked. He was big, a big man. Crazy too. My own theory of this is that he suffered what Nash did, breaking of his mind by deliberate stretching.
As far as I can tell, the Irving hoax was fabricated without any secret files provided by Hughes. That business about receiving files was inspired by a separate episode that Irving had nothing to do with nor claimed so. It seems, there WERE files stolen implicating to Nixon and so on to Watergate. The insertion of this bit into the record is a sort of double hoax.
Irving has come clean about the hoax and all its history. He was not involved in this film; other hoaxers were.
I watched it because the real story is so big, I figured even the drudge Hallstrom couldn't mess it up. There's a little merging of life and fantasy at the end, but it is the weak kind, the kind fumbled about with in the recent "Hollywoodland." I have no complaints about Gere, its the director's fault that he chose to make it about the supposedly interesting foibles of a huckster than the motions of forces of the times. Oddly, the one thing that does work is the sound track, taken from songs of the era.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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