When the film opens, Irving (Richard Gere) is in meetings with McGraw-Hill over a novel he’s written, and it seems a lock that they’re going to publish the book. His editor, Andrea Tate (Hope Davis), is sure it’s a go; the last few reviews are just formalities. So Irving and Suskind (Alfred Molina) plan a trip to celebrate, and Clifford buys Ethel (Marcia Gay Harden) a new car, which he delivers as their couch is being repossessed. It’s been lean, but things are definitely looking up. Then, calamity: the book has been torpedoed by an outside reviewer.
Irving and Suskind go on their trip anyway, and while there, the hotel they’re staying in gets cleared out and the guests relocated to give exclusive use to Howard Hughes. That event plants the seed in Irving’s mind: A can’t miss, sure-fire best seller, the autobiography of Howard Hughes as told to Irving. Suskind takes some convincing, but agrees to go along, and Ethel’s all for it.
McGraw-Hill is cautious, but Irving has answers for their every question. He produces letters from Hughes to him, written in Hughes’ handwriting, at least as far as experts can tell. In reality, Irving’s practiced Hughes writing, taken from excerpts of memos published in Newsweek, and can replicate it. He later learns to mimic Hughes’ voice, and records lengthy “interviews,” sometimes dressed as Hughes. Suskind transcribes the interviews to form the basis of the book.
In the end, it all goes bad and both Irvings and Suskind end up doing time in jail. But watching the lengths they went to to try and perpetuate the story and how they overcame nearly all the challenges they encountered is fascinating. Watching The Hoax brought back to me how mysterious Hughes was, and how enthralled people were with any information they could get on him. It’s not too hard to see how Irving was able to almost pull this off. What’s most interesting is the last 45 minutes or so of the film where, as the con is falling apart, Irving himself is believing it more and more. There are times when it’s very difficult to tell what’s real and what’s just in Irving’s imagination; director Lasse Hallström does a great job of weaving this story.
Hallström is aided by solid performances all around. Gere shows how Irving’s charm and certainty made him an entirely credible liar. Molina’s Suskind is alternately trusting and panicked; once he decides to go along with the hoax, he’s making up more stories about Hughes than Irving himself. Hardin’s Ethel, having been betrayed by Irving’s infidelities, wants what she believes should be coming to her, and she seems the least concerned about the ethics of the situation of anyone.
The special features include a making-of featurette including interviews with cast and crew members, mostly reflecting on Irving’s ability to perpetuate the hoax. There are several deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Hallström. I highly recommend watching the extended scene, “Business as Pleasure.” In the making-of, Gere and Molina note that they were often encouraged to go off script, and this appears to be one of those cases. The scene as it appears in the film is funny enough, but the extended version is hilarious as Irving and Suskind get tangled up in their stories.
There’s also an interview with Mike Wallace, who interviewed the real Irving on 60 Minutes before the hoax was revealed. He describes what Irving was like (and some footage of that interview is included), how he, Wallace, was skeptical and tried to trip Irving up in the interview, but couldn’t. This really gives a sense of just how fully Irving was invested in the story. There are also two optional commentary tracks, both with Hallström; in one, he’s paired with William Wheeler, the screenwriter, and in the other with Joshua D. Maurer, his co-producer.
The Hoax drags a little in the middle, but it’s well worth watching. Seeing Irving develop and then flesh out the idea at the beginning is intriguing, and the last 45 minutes are just terrific. If you remember the period toward the end of Howard Hughes’ life, you’ll find this movie fascinating. If you don’t, it’s still a great tale of how to pull off (well, almost) the near-perfect con.
