The Hoax

Richard Gere’s instincts for creating character are spot-on in director Lasse Hallstrom’s off-kilter screen version of writer Clifford Irving’s literary deceit of selling a bogus Howard Hughes autobiography to McGraw Hill in 1971. An undercurrent of black humor pervades as Irving (Gere) and his nervous confidant/co-writer Richard Suskin (brilliantly played by Alfred Molina) pull the con job of the century beneath the Nixon administration’s political cloud. The film’s tone leans toward George Clooney’s "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" as Irving’s paranoia coils around him in nightmare episodes that may or may not be real. William Wheeler’s screenplay proves an ideal source for Hallstrom ("The Shipping News") to break the mold of recent clinkers, and create a thoroughly enjoyable movie that is equal parts biography, cautionary tale, farce and satire.

Rated R. 115 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)