Overview
In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.
To be honest with you, I didn’t know that this movie was based in fact until it was over. It seemed as though the premise was clever enough – a couple of writers conspired to write an authorized biography about Howard Hughes even though they had not met him nor had he authorized it. The reason why this was plausible is that Hughes had lost a $137 million dollar lawsuit and would have been served with papers the minute he surfaced. The movie itself was ok. I felt like there was more of a movie here but the director just didn’t get us there. Gere was excellent as he almost always is, but at times the movie lagged or you really had to struggle to comprehend what was going on. Normally I like movies where the audience has to try a little bit to follow along but for some reason it just didn’t work here. All in all, a worthwhile read. One last thing: as with all of these kinds of movies that claim to be a portrayal of real events, of course it is anything but. Clifford Irving (the main conspirator) denounced the movie as being almost completely inaccurate and demanded that his name be taken off of the movie. His name does appear in the writing credits but this is because the movie is loosely based on his book.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews The Hoax
Movie title: The Hoax
Movie description: In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.
Date published: 2008-08-22
Director(s): Lasse Hallström
Actor(s): Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Julie Delpy, Stanley Tucci, David Aaron Baker, Mamie Gummer, Zeljko Ivanek, Eli Wallach, Myk Watford, John Bedford Lloyd, Peter McRobbie, John Carter, James Biberi, Christopher Evan Welch, Raul Julia Jr., Judi Barton, Milton Buras, Okwui Okpokwasili, Bob Wiltfong, William Fowle, Carlton Wilborn, Antonie Knoppers, Steve Buck, Eric Yellin, John Rothman
Genre: Comedy, Drama
My Review
To be honest with you, I didn’t know that this movie was based in fact until it was over. It seemed as though the premise was clever enough – a couple of writers conspired to write an authorized biography about Howard Hughes even though they had not met him nor had he authorized it. The reason why this was plausible is that Hughes had lost a $137 million dollar lawsuit and would have been served with papers the minute he surfaced. The movie itself was ok. I felt like there was more of a movie here but the director just didn’t get us there. Gere was excellent as he almost always is, but at times the movie lagged or you really had to struggle to comprehend what was going on. Normally I like movies where the audience has to try a little bit to follow along but for some reason it just didn’t work here. All in all, a worthwhile read. One last thing: as with all of these kinds of movies that claim to be a portrayal of real events, of course it is anything but. Clifford Irving (the main conspirator) denounced the movie as being almost completely inaccurate and demanded that his name be taken off of the movie. His name does appear in the writing credits but this is because the movie is loosely based on his book.
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My Review - 7/10
7/10