Comic-Con coverage on Spout
Advertisement

The Hoax
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD
Starting at $14.70
trailerWatch trailer

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement

Synopsis
Director Lasse Hallström 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, All Movie Guide


Production Crew

Clifford Irving Book Author
Ali Farrell Casting
Laura Rosenthal Casting
Oliver Stapleton Cinematographer
Erin Eggers Co-producer
Suzanne Patmore-Gibbs Co-producer
Carter Burwell Composer (Music Score)
David C. Robinson Costume Designer
Lasse Hallström Director
Andrew Mondshein Editor
Anthony Katagas Executive Producer
Gary Levinsohn Executive Producer
Tracy McKnight Musical Direction/Supervision
Betsy Beers Producer
Bob Yari Producer
Joshua Maurer Producer
Leslie Holleran Producer
Mark Gordon Producer
Mark Ricker Production Designer
William Wheeler Screenwriter
Allan Byer Sound/Sound Designer
Brian Langman Supervising Sound Editor
Year: 2007
Runtime: 115
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: R
for language
Category: Feature


Sound
Dolby
DTS
SDDS

Produced by
Bob Yari Productions
Hallstrom
Holleran
Mark Gordon Company
Stratus Film
Yari Film Group

Release
April 13, 2007 (USA)
by Miramax
Walt Disney Pictures