THE HOAX

"THE HOAX"(2006/U.S.A)
Synopsis
Early in 1971, McGraw-Hill passes on Clifford Irving's new novel. He's desperate for money, so, against the backdrop of Nixon's reelection calculations, Irving claims he has Howard Hughes's cooperation to write Hughes's autobiography. With the help of friend Dick Suskind, Irving does research, lucks into a manuscript written by a long-time Hughes associate, and plays on corporate greed. He's quick-thinking and outrageously bold. Plus, he banks on Hughes's reluctance to enter the public eye. At the same time, he's trying to rebuild his marriage and deflect the allure of his one-time mistress, Nina Van Pallandt. Can he write a good book, take the money, and pull off the hoax?


Clifford's lie became larger gradually, and it was no longer to get onto the reclaim.
He was able to deceive people around him because of his knowledge of Hughes' background and he also tried to behave and think like Hughes for his success of writing an autobiography. His lies were going to be exposed several times, but he managed to avoid them. He had been involved in the world of his lies hence the inability to distinguish fiction from reality. He seemed like a mythomaniac.
But I thought he did not tell a lie at all. There were many facts in his book.
In addition, the issue of political contributions to President Nixon which was in the document Clifford got from an unknown person led to the Watergate scandal and so this scene had the ring of truth. Hughes wanted the downfall of Nixon, so that documents might have been Hughes' gimmick trap.
Clifford was going to deceive Hughes, but in fact he was deceived by Hughes. He might be a only chess piece for an execution of a large conspiracy involving politics.
Although this movie was based on the true story, I didn't know which part of the movie was true.
Anyway there were humor and thrill in this movie, so I enjoyed it very much.


My rating:★★★