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See Richard Gere in “The Hoax”

Written by Elizabeth on October 19, 2007 – 3:15 pm -

We watched the movie “The Hoax” starring Richard Gere the other night. It is the true story of Clifford Irving, a writer who made up a story about being hired by Howard Hughes to write his biography. Oscar®-nominated director Lasse Hallström spins a thrilling true story of the man who nearly pulled off the biggest media scam of the 20th century in The Hoax, released on DVD October 16th from Miramax Home Entertainment. Starring Golden Globe® Winner Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden and a terrific supporting cast, The Hoax is based on Clifford Irving’s controversial autobiography by the same name.

Richard Gere (“Chicago”) assumes the identity of Clifford Irving, a novelist who in the 1970s penned a bogus autobiography of reclusive playboy billionaire Howard Hughes. Screenwriter William Wheeler based his “Hoax” script on Irving’s own tell-all book by the same name. Son of a successful cartoonist, Irving was a critically acclaimed novelist with modest book sales in the early 1970s when publisher Andrea Tate (Hope Davis) turns down his newest effort. So Irving and friend Dick Susskind, portrayed by Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”), conceived of a faux Hughes bio as a way to reinvigorate Irving’s literary career and make a few bucks.

Encouraged by greedy publishing executive Shelton Fisher, played by Stanley Tucci (”The Devil Wears Prada”), Irving began writing the Hughes biography and forging letters supposedly written by the aviator himself. Irving was eventually brought down by his own overreaching conspiracies, hoping to rope the Nixon administration and the real Howard Hughes into his counterfeit literary web. Irving and Susskind were carted off to prison for a few years and forced to return the $1 million paid out by duped publishers McGraw-Hill and Life magazine.

Academy Award® winner Marcia Gay Harden (“Pollock,” 2000) portrays Irving’s hippie painter wife Edith, with Julie Delpy (“Before Sunset”) as Irving’s mistress Nina Stanley, and Hope Davis (”The Weather Man”) as Andrea Tate. Gere gives a stunning performance, as the movie progresses and his character gets more and more tangled in the web of lies, Gere’s face slowly turns from handsome and sly to painful and worried. Watch for a scene where he is questioned by CIA-operatives hired by Hughes, or is he? It’s compelling all the way to the inevitable conclusion.

As you know, Bonus Features are a plus for me, and this DVD is packed with them:

DVD Bonus Features

• “Stranger than Fiction”
A “making of,” in-part, but with more conjecture on Clifford’s motivation

• Deleted Scenes
Over 13 minutes worth with optional commentary by Director Lasse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler

• “Mike Wallace: Reflections On A Con”
Mike Wallace on his encounters with Clifford during the 1970’s 60 Minutes interview in which he swore the book was not a fake, and the follow-up interview done 27 years later

• Feature Audio Commentary
Watch the film from Director Lasse Hallström and Writer William Wheeler’s perspective or with commentary from Producers Leslie Holleran and Josh Maurer

• “Business as Pleasure”
Watch as the camera rolls while Richard Gere and Alfred Molina ad-lib the scene at Café des Artistes

• “Nixon’s the One”
As an easter egg, a full-length Richard Nixon campaign song by Vic Caesar (I couldn’t find this!)

Directed By:

Lasse Hallström, who catapulted to Hollywood notoriety in 1985 with his poignant comedy “My Life as a Dog.” The coming-of-age tale set in 1950s Scandinavia earned a pair of Oscar nominations, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hallström’s credits also include “Chocolat” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.”

Technical Info:

Suggested retail price: $29.99 U.S.
Feature run time: 115 Minutes
Rated: “R.” Bonus materials not rated, and subject to change.

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