DVD Review: The Hoax

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The Hoax (2007)–***
DVD Review

The main conflict in The Hoax is illustrated in the second scene when we hear an executive at McGraw-Hill publishing discuss Clifford Irving’s book about the infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory. The executive juggles his words, determining whether to call de Hory an artist or an art forger. We too are often juggling our own thoughts when it comes to Irving, who attempts to publish a fake autobiography about Howard Hughes. Is he just a liar, or is he a damn good liar, worthy of admiration? In the hands of actor Richard Gere, the character Irving is, in fact, an artist who works in lies.

The lies start quickly after McGraw-Hill rejects a fiction novel written by Irving. Desperate to do something, to be someone, Irving barges into the McGraw-Hill offices and tells them that he is working on the most important book of the century. It’s a lie. He has no book in mind, but it gets the publisher interested. So he, his friend Dick (Alfred Molina) and his wife (Marcia Gay Harden) throw around ideas until one finds him.

Howard Hughes. The eccentric, reclusive billionaire, who is more intriguing than any other man on the planet, and who has little contact with the outside world, is the perfect subject.

When Irving lies, he lies big. He perfectly forges letters from Hughes saying he is authorized to write the billionaire hermit’s autobiography. He has Dick go to the Bahamas and mail forged letters from Hughes. He listens to tapes and illegally copies government documents, all to make his book the perfect fraud. Every time it looks like the jig is up, Irving schemes his way out of it. But finally having the book printed doesn’t mean he’ll make it out of this one.

With the always charming Gere in charge of such a charismatic character, it’s no surprise that we too go along with the ruse. Gere makes it easy to root for, empathize with, and despise Irving, often at once. As Irving becomes wrapped up in his lies, donning the look of Howard Hughes to get into the eccentric’s mind and creating a parallel world where Hughes’s cronies hunt him down, we see him for the egomaniac he is. Still, Gere captures Irving’s human side with surprising resonance.

Human or not, Irving is a liar and a surprising number of smart, highly-paid people believe his implausible story. The always solid director Lasse Hallström even gets us to believe in Irving’s irrational delusions because, in the end, we want to go along for the ride. I imagine most of the other characters, Dick, his wife, and the publishing people, felt the same way. It’s invigorating while the wild adventure is going on, and even in the end, I don’t think anyone who was duped really regrets their time with Irving.

Extras:

Don’t miss the interview with 60 Minutes newsman Mike Wallace, who tells his own personal anecdote about interviewing Irving. Even he admits that he wanted to believe Irving’s outrageous lies.