Lasse Hallstrom's The Hoax is solid fare, albeit nothing special. Before there was
James Frey and
JT Leroy, there was
Clifford Irving. Having received lukewarm reception for his previous literary efforts, Irving decided to stage a con by which he convinced publishers, journalists and friends that recluse billionaire
Howard Hughes had commissioned him to pen his autobiography.
Richard Gere is palpable as the slightly-eccentric, fast-talking Irving and
Alfred Molina turns in the best performance as his partner in crime,
Dick Suskind. Marcia "I'm in everything" Gay Harden plays another troubled wife, but
Julie Delpy as Baroness
Nina Van Pallandt (
The Long Goodbye and ironically,
American Gigolo) is a bit of a stretch.
The film moves at a good clip as the camera quickly pans in and out of scenes, stopping briefly for a few mandatory close-ups. Gere and Molina have a great chemistry that carries the film through it's weak points which include no real examination of Irving's psychology and lack of character development.
The Hoax also manages to get a number of facts wrong, including a scene where Irving is shown being bullied by Hugh's agents (this never happened). A scene depicts Irving, Pallandt and his publisher all in attendance at
Capote's Black and White Ball (they were not). Plus, Irving did not live in New York, but in Spain. Perhaps the filmmakers were playing with the idea of toying with truth themselves, but I have a suspicion these are the pitfalls of a shotty script.
What bothers me about the film is the cinematic redundancy of it all.
Orson Welles' far superior film-essay
F for Fake covered the same figures and topics all more intelligently than this slick Hollywood byproduct. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at an industry that thinks remaking
Dune for a third time is a sound investment. If you haven't seen
F for Fake it comes highly recommended as a post-modern examination on the nature of authenticity. Yes,
The Hoax also touches on this issue, but the philosophy barely gleams through the over-the-top performances and slick camera work.
The DVD comes out on the 16th at the retail price of $29.99. Extras include two commentary tracks, a featurette and deleted/extended scenes. These are all actually quite interesting and full of tibits and research. I can't say I recommend buying this DVD, but it's worthy of a spot near the top of your netflix queue.
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# posted by Benjamin Crossley-Marra @ 10/17/2007 12:29:00 PM
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