The Hoax (2007)

Had 2004's The Aviator not been made, would yet another movie whose antics center around Howard Hughes have been greenlit? With The Hoax, we get Richard Gere and Alfred Molina as real life authors Clifford Irving and Dick Suskind as they try to manipulate their way into publishing a biography about the eccentric and reclusive billionaire, but along the way the film seems to lose itself in its own lies and obscured truths. By that I mean precisely the self-defeating confusion that the characters experience also occurs to the film. In trying to adapt Clifford Irving's autobiographical book to the screen, important details seem lost or poorly elaborated on. I expect that if you were around and paying attention when a lot of this was actually happening you'll get a lot more out of it, but the rest might be left scratching their heads on a few bits. Still, Gere and Molina do a fun job portraying their grand-scale con. While it never pays off the way it feels like it should, there's little to directly poke holes in. If you know the story then chances are you'll be intrigued; if not it could go either way for you.

6 out of 10.