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An astute and thought-provoking adaptation of Clifford Irving's own memoirs about one of the most shocking tales of deception and fraud, The Hoax features Richard Gere and Alfred Molina in their best performances in years. Fueling the implausible actions of Irving is a first-rate screenplay by William Wheeler and Irving himself, filled with bits of humor, knavery and even thrills. While the film slows in several spots, taking it's time to build up key events, the lies constantly being spurted from Gere to alleviate every situation will have you anxious to discover the outrageous conclusion.

Cliff Irving (Richard Gere) is at a low point in his life when his newest novel is condemned from publication. With a shaky marriage and the habit of spending money he doesn't have, Irving teams up with his good friend Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina) to pitch the most important novel of the century: the autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. The catch? It's entirely a fake. Desperate for fame and fortune, he creates an elaborate hoax involving forging Hughes' writing and breaking a few laws to dig up information on the infamous solitaire. As an increasing number of people begin to doubt the authenticity of his story, Irving realizes just how deep he is in a scheme he can't hope to weasel his way out of.

Gere's performance is sensational and he brings charm and personality to the compulsive liar he depicts. Portraying an everyman who is not particularly unique is a new avenue for Gere and he plays it admirably. Spinning webs of deceit at every turn, the character runs into many problems, some physically violent, some requiring hilarious craftiness, and some that may just be further fabrications existing only in his mind. Adding humor and moral dilemmas in the mix, the character is amply intriguing and perhaps Gere's finest performance ever. Alfred Molina also magnificently portrays Irving's partner-in-crime Suskind, who represents the factors of conscience, regret and the nagging hesitation to carry out their various falsifications. He is very human, and while notably flawed, can also recognize when to continue and when to admit defeat. An amazingly adept and entertaining duo, Gere and Molina play off each other's performances impeccably.

While The Hoax is an in-depth biopic of Irving, it also manages to be a prime static character study, as well as shedding some light on a few controversial subjects involving Nixon and possible funding by Hughes. We get to witness choice inter-cut footage of both Hughes and Nixon and some conspiratorial dealings uncovered by Irving. Considering that nearly everything Irving proclaimed was completely fictitious, it's hard to know which aspects of his story might by true, especially when accounting for how much research went into the compilation of his novel. As with all biopics, especially those based on what many believe to be heavily fictionalized, these films make you wonder what is historically accurate versus what has been modified for purposes of entertainment. Irving's inability to accept the consequences for his fake concoctions prove to be a disheartening and static trait throughout the film. As stated in the epilogue of the film, Irving is still to this day trying to get The Autobiography of Howard Hughes published. Even while he struggles to accomplish that, he has reached a level of fame not only for his audacious media scam but now for a feature film based on those events. I'll bet he never expected that.

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