The Hoax

Unlike Color Me Kubrick, which I dismissed for being a dull minded, overly simple look at an interesting con, The Hoax delivers all the excitement, depth, and nervousness of watching an actual con unfold. Richard Gere stars as Clifford Irving, a character based on a real man who sold a fabricated autobiography of notorious recluse Howard Hughes to a major publishing house, forging and fast-talking his way through every moment.

Irving is a down on his luck author, who has been backed against a wall, and decides to sell this fake book partly out of desperation but also largely out of his own desire to achieve power, to be, like Hughes, a person who does not back down. His psychological correspondence to the billionaire’s own downfall plays humorously at first and then grows eerie when reality sets in and we realize Irving is actually a man experiencing a major emotional downfall. The film is devious in its mixture of emotion, satire, and crushing shame. Irving’s heart grows blacker with every frame, and the film pulls out darker tone just in time to deliver what’s needed to close out this story. It’s more than just a funny tale of corruption and tomfoolery. The severity of the situation constantly presses in to remind us that fraud is actually a dangerous crime and that Irving’s life is far from fun and games.

The ensemble, which also includes Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, and Julie Delpy, is a really impressive collection of borderline famous yet truly talented actors. The whole film, in fact, straddles the line between art house psychological portrait and mainstream caper flick. I’m hoping that people will actually go out and see this as it’s in somewhat of a wide release already. There are some minor shortcomings and small bits of awkward editing, but it’s really a satisfying sophisticated dramedy with a great amount of both simple fun and serious suspense.

Grade: A-