| Issue #2- April 6, 2007 |
movie review: the hoax
By David Lion Rattiner
The Hoax is a new movie about the amazing lie — an authorized biography of Howard Hughes — that writer Clifford Irving made up to make himself famous for and wealthy as a writer. Richard Gere plays Irving. And the scheme gets more and more fantastic as the movie wears on.
The movie is incredible from every perspective, and I recommend that you see it. It’s original and good, desperate and ridiculous, a combination that is rare these days. The trick is to make you root for Irving and even hope he doesn’t get caught. Gere does this beautifully, portraying him as a charming, seductive scamp in it not just for the money, but for the pleasure of it. There’s even a measure of revenge involved as Irving gets back at the book publishing business, which, up until now, had treated him shabbily. The film is being praised by everyone that has seen it, including the critics.
Richard Gere captures his character masterfully, and the story of this hoax is amazingly unique because it is a true story involving outrageously gutsy and dangerous lies that the hoax required to pull off. The movie also captures the spirit of the time and what the world thought of Howard Hughes. This day and age, anybody has access to pretty much anybody because of the Internet, so watching America’s reaction to Howard Hughes’ complete inaccessibility on screen is strikingly surreal.
The Hoax also features Hamptons local Eli Wallach, and Marsha Gay Harden, who plays Irving’s long-suffering wife in the same way she played Jackson Pollock’s long-suffering wife four years ago in Pollock. Throughout, you sit on the edge of your seat, smiling and hoping, as you watch Clifford Irving go through his lies and scams that finally come crashing down around him.
Finally, here is a movie with some substance and some life to it. If you appreciate movies, you have been waiting for this film for a long time. It’s Academy Award material, and it’s nice to know that Hollywood can still tell such a sorry tale in such a wonderful way.
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