The Hoax (2007) R - 3½ Stars

Writer Clifford Irving, nearly pulled off the biggest scam of the literary community when he claimed his autobiography of Howard Hughes, which he sold to McGraw Hill publishing company, was based on interviews direct from the horses mouth. Richard Gere is pretty good in this role and he keeps you guessing on what he has to do to cover up his latest lie. He's convincing and sells the concept to "never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

It's the early 70's in Hollywood and Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), is a struggling author trying to make a name for himself. After constant humiliation at publishers, he proclaims he'll be back with "the most important book of the century."

With his mind set on making it big, he comes across a magazine with Howard Hughes on the cover. He starts to think about what it would be like to actually be the one to write the autobiography of Mr. Hughes. Upon sharing his thoughts with his best friend Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), they begin to come up with ideas on how to pitch the publicist on the idea that Clifford was selected to write the story.

Now they must have a plan how to approach Shelton Fisher (Stanley Tucci), the big wig at McGraw Hill. Clifford practices and practices forging the signature of Howard Hughes till he gets it right. He displays these signatures to the publishers and demands a check for 1 million dollars.It appears the more outrageous it gets with his stories, the more people seem to believe him. But he soon will get caught up in his lies, as all good things must come to an end, putting egg on the face of everyone.

Miramax Films
Director: Lasse Hallström
Writer: William Wheeler
Producers: Mark Gordon, Bob Yari, Joshua Maurer

I viewed 10/07