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Film review

A clever claim to infamy

Lasse Hallstrom's new film, The Hoax, captures a troubled writer's audacious trickery.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published April 5, 2007

Richard Gere plays the author Clifford Irving and Marcia Gay Harden his forgiving wife in The Hoax.
	[Miramax photo]

Clifford Irving knew a little about tycoon-hermit Howard Hughes and one important trait of human nature: Wanting to believe something is halfway to being conned.

In the early 1970s, Irving used what he knew and what could be stolen or fabricated to almost pull off the greatest literary scam ever. Publishers believed he was the only writer trusted by Hughes, who had isolated himself from the world in a Las Vegas hotel.

Irving conned them with a bogus Hughes autobiography, an audacious scheme depicted in Lasse Hallstrom's entertaining film, The Hoax.

Richard Gere plays Irving similarly to his shyster lawyer in Chicago, without the songs and with only figurative tap-dancing around truth. This is the kind of rounded performance Gere promised for years before usually allowing charm to overrule risks. The result is a screen antihero who's easy to cheer at first and pity later when the scam becomes dangerous.

The Hoax begins with one of Irving's daring ruses, waiting atop McGraw-Hill's Manhattan offices for a helicopter bringing Hughes to verify the author's book to nervous publishers. Of course the billionaire isn't coming; Irving's scheme hinged on his belief that Hughes would never publicly deny his involvement. The scene's kicker comes later, after Hallstrom flashes back to the plot's origins.

A year earlier, Irving seemed legitimately to have everything going his way. His editor Hope Davis was excited about a new novel, his wife (Marcia Gay Harden) had forgiven an affair and a fat advance paid luxurious dividends. Then the book tanks, money runs out and Irving's former lover, socialite Nina Van Pallandt (Julie Delpy), hints at reunion.

Desperation leads to inspiration. Irving enlists his researcher Dick Susskind (marvelous Alfred Molina) to gather every shred of information on Hughes to compose an "authorized autobiography" for a huge payday.

That involves the theft of classified government documents and fooling Hughes' friend Noah Dietrich (Eli Wallach), among other shady endeavors. Forged documents, a Swiss bank account and impersonated tape recordings figure into Irving's strategy of offering so many details that they won't be disputed. Eventually Irving goes crazy, betraying loyalties and dealing with shady characters who may be Hughes' muscle, CIA agents, or who perhaps don't exist at all.

Hallstrom does a fine job making such a complex story play so cleanly, with a vibe echoing what Steven Spielberg did with another con artist in Catch Me If You Can. Gere makes an appealing rogue even when The Hoax strains to connect Irving's paranoid hubris with Watergate shenanigans and worse. At least that's what Irving claimed, and why wouldn't we believe him?

Steve Persall can be reached at (727) 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com.

REVIEW: The Hoax
Grade: B+
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Cast: Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Julie Delpy, Stanley Tucci, Eli Wallach
Screenplay: William Wheeler, based on the book by Clifford Irving
Rating: R; strong profanity, brief nudity
Running time: 116 min.

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 21:45:28]