The Hoax

So the American Typewriter font is little shout-out to one of the most delightful movies we've seen since Little Miss Sunshine. It's a consummate Spring release- sunny and light-hearted, but with enough seriousness to make you sit up and pay attention. No one's winning any Oscars here but who cares? The actors were having fun playing each of their well-written roles, the audience loved every moment of it, and in the larger scheme of movie-making and entertainment, what more could you ask for?

The Hoax is a wonderful romp of a film- funny, witty, a little sad at times, but all round good fun. It was a little hard for Jude and I to comprehend America's obsession with Howard Hughes and why an autobiography of him would be such a big deal, but that's besides the point. Watch it for the exquisite cast- Richard Gere obviously (who does so much better acting his age and not pretending to be the swoony leading man he no longer is...), but also Alfred Molina and Hope Davis in particular (I wonder how I'll look in a tunic dress, clunky shoes and blue eye-shadow...). The writing is sharp and concise and on the whole, it felt a little like Soderbergh's Ocean's 11 but with nine less accomplices and no stylish suits (not of the Clooney-Pitt variety anyway...)

Director Lasse Hallström also made Chocolat and has since been better known for flakier confections such as Cider House Rules and Casanova. Thankfully though, The Hoax achieves a greater complexity of tone. For the most part, it is a jumpy, suspenseful caper, chockful of narrow escapes. But it has a sinister undertow as well, a shadow of dread that emerges once Irving’s game begins to unravel. And that, is what I call a good Spring movie- just the right touch of fluff and gravity.

There's a veritable treasure trove of information on the web on the whole Irving-Hughes hoax, as well as its accompanying conspiracy theories involving Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. There is of course a Wikipedia entry on Clifford Iriving who incidentally also has a website of his own where he talks about the hoax, disavows parts of the movie as being exaggerated and inaccurate, and continues to try getting his "authorized" autobiography published.

I was on a train of lies. I couldn't jump off.
-Clifford Irving

the end.