- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adam Smith
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4 out of 5
Director Lasse Hallström and screenwriter William Wheeler's smart and playful account of one of the greatest literary scams of all time benefits from a brace of great performances in the shape of Richard Gere and Alfred Molina. In 1971, failing author Clifford Irving persuaded publishers McGraw-Hill that he was working on an authorised biography of eccentric recluse Howard Hughes, and thus banked a gargantuan advance. Gere is well cast as the charismatic Irving, conveying the slightly seedy charm he employed in Amerian Gigolo, and the always watchable Molina plays his nervy best friend and collaborator, Dick Suskind. The fabrications soon mount up, and what results is a desperate race to fake the necessary evidence, with Irving betting that Hughes won't come out of hiding to reveal the truth. The film is pacey, funny and often enjoyably tense. The real Irving was less impressed, though - cheekily objecting to the movie playing fast and loose with the facts. He described it as "a hoax about a hoax".
Plot Summary
Drama based on the true story of conman Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), who deceived publisher McGraw Hill into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fake biography of Howard Hughes.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Clifford Irving
- Richard Gere
- Dick Suskind
- Alfred Molina
- Edith Irving
- Marcia Gay Harden
- Nina Van Pallandt
- Julie Delpy
- Andrea Tate
- Hope Davis
- Shelton Fisher
- Stanley Tucci
- Noah Dietrich
- Eli Wallach
- Ralph Graves
- Zeljko Ivanek
- Harold McGraw
- John Carter
- Albert Vanderkamp
- Christopher Evan Welch
Crew
- Director
- Lasse Hallström
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