Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 04/06/2007(USA
Release Date: 10/16/2007
SubTitles: French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 115 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Adult Humor, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Miramax
Director
Lasse Hallström offers a brisk account of the scam that shook the literary community with this semi-comic
biographical drama starring
Richard Gere as the man who sold a fraudulent biography of
Howard Hughes to publishing giant McGraw Hill. The year was 1971; the Vietnam War was raging and protestors filled the streets.
Clifford Irving (
Gere) was a struggling author with bold ambitions, and the determination needed to see them through. When
Irving's attempt to sell his latest novel to McGraw Hill via his in-house publisher,
Andrea Tate (
Hope Davis), falls through at the last minute, the frustrated author loudly proclaims that his next novel will be "the book of the century." Upon returning to his wife
Edith's (
Marcia Gay Harden) makeshift studio, the humiliated author catches a glimpse of eccentric billionaire
Howard Hughes on a magazine cover. Later, almost jokingly,
Irving and his best friend
Dick Suskind (
Alfred Molina) begin to fantasize about a scenario in which the author convinces his publishers that he has been personally selected by
Hughes to pen the billionaire's memoirs. The revenge fantasy becomes a complicated reality, however, when
Irving and
Suskind approach skeptical McGraw Hill heavy
Shelton Fisher (
Stanley Tucci) with a series of forged letters presumably written by
Hughes himself and offering unwavering support for the project. His credibility continually questioned as the ante is upped at every turn,
Irving is forced to maintain the increasingly difficult charade as he strong-arms McGraw Hill to pay "Hughes" an unheard-of one million dollars for the rights to his life story, acquires a the illegally procured documents that will provide the foundation for the book, and works around the clock to meet his publisher's deadline.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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