Hoax

Theatrical Release Date: 2007 04 06 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 096009775995

Studio: Platinum Disc, Llc

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Humor, Profanity]

Summary: Director Lasse Hallstr?m offers a brisk account of the scam that shook the literary community with this semi-comic biographical drama starring Richard Gere as the man who sold a fraudulent biography of Howard Hughes to publishing giant McGraw Hill. The year was 1971; the Vietnam War was raging and protestors filled the streets. Clifford Irving (Gere) was a struggling author with bold ambitions, and the determination needed to see them through. When Irving's attempt to sell his latest novel to McGraw Hill via his in-house publisher, Andrea Tate (Hope Davis), falls through at the last minute, the frustrated author loudly proclaims that his next novel will be "the book of the century." Upon returning to his wife Edith's (Marcia Gay Harden) makeshift studio, the humiliated author catches a glimpse of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes on a magazine cover. Later, almost jokingly, Irving and his best friend Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina) begin to fantasize about a scenario in which the author convinces his publishers that he has been personally selected by Hughes to pen the billionaire's memoirs. The revenge fantasy becomes a complicated reality, however, when Irving and Suskind approach skeptical McGraw Hill heavy Shelton Fisher (Stanley Tucci) with a series of forged letters presumably written by Hughes himself and offering unwavering support for the project. His credibility continually questioned as the ante is upped at every turn, Irving is forced to maintain the increasingly difficult charade as he strong-arms McGraw Hill to pay "Hughes" an unheard-of one million dollars for the rights to his life story, acquires a the illegally procured documents that will provide the foundation for the book, and works around the clock to meet his publisher's deadline. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Film Presented – Rome International Film Festival Film Presented – San Sebastián International Film Festival Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Golden Satellite Award

Hoax

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/14/2012

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Hoax
1. Chapter 1 [14:57]
2. Chapter 2 [15:00]
3. Chapter 3 [11:32]
4. Chapter 4 [3:28]
5. Chapter 5 [14:59]
6. Chapter 6 [9:23]
7. Chapter 7 [5:36]
8. Chapter 8 [15:00]
9. Chapter 9 [14:59]
10. Chapter 10 [11:07]

Craig Butler

Director Lasse Hallstr?m continues his streak of underperforming but critically respected films with this adaptation of a notorious con man's memoir. Delayed releases for An Unfinished Life (2005) and The Hoax hamstrung their box-office prospects, while Casanova (2005) came and went in a flash from domestic screens, despite a stellar cast and a nimble if perhaps overly PG script. It's a shame the director isn't enjoying more of a mid-career winning streak because his work is top-shelf, and never more so than with this deeply funny, yet psychologically disturbing portrait of a liar who nearly pulls off one of the century's biggest literary scams. Richard Gere turns in one of his career-best performances as Clifford Irving, by turns desperate, needy, charming, and blustering, and rising to a new level of ability in every scene he's appearing opposite the impressive Alfred Molina as Irving's quivering, nerve-wracked partner in crime, Dick Suskind. Their relationship is the film's true heart and it's a pure joy to behold them riffing off each other as their onscreen friendship unravels. The other characters are less richly defined, with class actors Stanley Tucci, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Eli Wallach, and Zeljko Ivanek given a moment here and there but not much else to do. The Hoax tries to be clever by cutting a third-act story development both ways, implying it's equally possible that an unexpected plot twist could have be real or could have been imagined by the increasingly unhinged Irving, but while this annoying attempt at evenhandedness only dilutes the power of the narrative, the overall film is a thoroughly entertaining chronicle of a little-remembered scandal that represents solid, if unjustly ignored work from its talented filmmaker and cast. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Mamie Gummer  Actor 
Joshua Maurer  Producer 
Carter Burwell  Composer (Music Score) 
Mark Gordon  Producer 
Lasse Hallström  Director 
Bob Yari  Producer 
Betsy Beers  Producer 
Gary Levinsohn  Executive Producer 
Anthony Katagas  Executive Producer 
Leslie Holleran  Producer 
William Wheeler  Screenwriter 
Richard Gere  Actor 
Alfred Molina  Actor 
Hope Davis  Actor 
Marcia Gay Harden  Actor 
Stanley Tucci  Actor 
Julie Delpy  Actor 
Eli Wallach  Actor 
Zeljko Ivanek  Actor 
John Carter  Actor 
Christopher Evan Welch  Actor 
Peter McRobbie  Actor 
John Bedford Lloyd  Actor 
David Aaron Baker  Actor 

Country: USA