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The Hoax   2007         R, 115 min. Genre: Drama Director: Lasse Hallstrom   Cast: Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Eli Wallach, Julie Delpy, Stanley Tucci, Zeljko Ivanek, John Carter, Christopher Evan Welch, Peter McRobbie, David Aaron Baker, Michael J. Burg, Raul Julia   This film is based on the true story of writer Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) who almost pulled off a great media scam when he conned the publishing house of McGraw-Hill into believing that his 1971 "autobiography" of Howard Hughes was based on real interviews with Hughes. Irving used the fact that Hughes had made it a point to not be seen in public for the last 10 years, and he used tape-recorded "interviews" in which he played Hughes to back up his claims.    1 User Review User Review the good, the bad and the silly bill b. 05/15/2007    Richard Gere as Clifford Irving almost steals the movie with the best acting job he`s ever done, despite the disclaimer from Irving that his need for money in spawning the hoax was a hoax in itself apparently. Nevertheless, it is Oscar nom caliber, and the near theft of the film is prevented only by Alfred Molina as his all-too-willing grifting partner. The parts unstolen by Gere become Molina`s propterty, and, incidentally, he comes off an off-Broadway role as a washed-up show-biz agent in "Howard Katz" as the titled character. It`s quite a switch, but then Molina, show also did a turn as Tevye a few years ago, makes such transititions easy. The bad, the women, not one of the three in the important roles comes across as a real person. Hope Davis as the McGraw-Hill exec comes closest. Eli Wallach is wasted. The rest of the cast is more than adequate. The silly, making the claim that the hoax changed the course of history with the Nixon theory that Watergate was triggered by the Irving-Hughes connection is absolutely ludicrous. Nevertheless, aa fun film. Cast Richard Gere Clifford Irving Alfred Molina Richard Suskind Marcia Gay Harden Edith Hope Davis Andrea Tate Eli Wallach Noah Dietrich Julie Delpy Nina Van Pallandt Stanley Tucci Shelton Fisher Zeljko Ivanek Ralph Graves John Carter Harold McGraw Christopher Evan Welch Albert Vanderkamp Peter McRobbie George Gordon Holmes David Aaron Baker Brad Silber Michael J. Burg Truman Capote Raul Julia Bike Messenger

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