Richard Gere stars as Clifford Irving, the man who perpetrated one of the most elaborate and brilliant hoaxes in history. Unable to find a publisher for his latest novel, and in dire need of money, Irving and his best friend Dick Suskind (Molina) begin writing the semi-autobiographical story of famous recluse Howard Hughes. Of course they have no access to Hughes, so they just make it all up. Amazingly this plot isn�t rumbled for quite some time, due to a combination of Irving�s brilliant lies, the publisher�s desperate desire for it to be true, and Hughes own inability, or refusal, to refute it. All this makes for a somewhat compelling story.
Gere is, as always, very good. Charming, believable and yet just enough of a bastard to pull the whole thing off. Molina is also well-cast as the affable yet weak Suskind, who is a perfect doormat when it comes to going through with Irving�s scheme. Beyond that there�s a solid cast, including Marcia Gay Harden, Julie Delpy, Zeljko Ivanek, Stanley Tucci and Eli Wallach. As usual this lends gravitas and respectability to the film, as they alternately enable and persecute irving.
While the story itself is quite interesting, and I�d already read a lot about it prior to watching, I still felt that it was a little light at times. The story of Hughes himself is a fascinating one, and though it has been told recently in The Aviator there was a potential for more featuring him. Other than that there�s not a lot more to say. It was watchable and a good adaptation which is mostly true to the story, and that�s about it. |
