The Hoax (2006)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers (WGA):

William Wheeler (screenplay)
Clifford Irving (book)

Release Date:

20 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Based on the true story. Would we lie to you?

Plot:

In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.

Plot Keywords:

Hoax | 1970s | Book | Manuscript | Writer

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

David Aaron Baker	...	Brad Silber
John Carter	...	Harold McGraw
Judi Barton	...	Marion
Raul Julia Jr.	...	Bike Messenger
James Biberi	...	McGraw-Hill Security
Richard Gere	...	Clifford Irving
Hope Davis	...	Andrea Tate
Christopher Evan Welch	...	Albert Vanderkamp
Okwui Okpokwasili	...	Malika
Alfred Molina	...	Dick Suskind
Bob Wiltfong	...	Sporting Goods Salesman
William Fowle	...	Car Salesman
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Edith Irving
Julie Delpy	...	Nina Van Pallandt
Antonie Knoppers	...	Fredrick Van Pallandt

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Ireland:15A | Brazil:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Armonk, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

The story is based on the true-life Clifford Irving, an American writer, best known for his "authorized autobiography" of Howard Hughes which turned out to be a hoax.

Goofs:

Continuity: The sun/shadows on the McGraw-Hill roof change radically between shots of the people on the roof and the shots of Irving and Andrea on the roof.

Quotes:

Clifford Irving: Bumped by this adolescent coffee boy. My lit professor at Cornell compared me to Hemingway! The middle of my life is at hand, and I don't have a couch.
Dick Suskind: Think about this: Henry Miller was 38-years-old, unpublished. His wife left him for a lesbian.
Clifford Irving: You're kind to tell me that, Dick. You're a very good man. You're a good friend. Need a loan?
Dick Suskind: Always.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-04-07)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Rue De Noir

Highly entertaining Watergate-era thriller

A super matinée flick. Richard Gere plays Clifford Irving, a mediocre author who tries to turn his fortune with an outrageous literary coup - that he is engaged to write the autobiography of reclusive magnate Howard Hughes. Gere captures the chutzpah and nervous opportunism of Irving; he is helped by director Lasse Hallström with unfussy sequences of intoxication, dream and surrealism as the project takes on a terrible life of its own.

Hallström is well-attuned to the natural drama in the story, using period footage and bleaching his shots beige with filters. Yet he really wrings the drama from the situation and has made a nail-biting and often funny film. Gere has classy support from the versatile Alfred Molina, a grandstanding Hope Davis as his agent and, latterly, the ever-watchable Stanley Tucci (Julie Delpy simply fleshes out a cameo). A more coherent and satisfying hoaxer movie than Catch Me If You Can. 7/10