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by R.J. Carter Published: October 16, 2007
The film opens with Irving meeting with a team of editors from McGraw-Hill, including Andrea Tate (Hope Davis), as they discuss his previous book, Fake (ironically a nonfiction piece about an art forger). The editorial pool is presented as a group of puff-minded faux literati who operate on the pretense of knowing what a book is about that they obviously never read. Irving is trying to sell them his newest novel, Rudnick's Problem, and all indications are that it's a done deal. When a post-celebratory Irving later discovers that the book deal is a no-go, he frantically begins looking for a new project to keep the cash coming in. After walking in on a McGraw-Hill meeting, promising the "book of the century," he returns home to brainstorm for ideas with his wife Edith (Marcia Gay Harden) and Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina). That's when Irving tumbles to the idea of writing the autobiography of eccentric recluse Howard Hughes. It should have been the perfect scam. Irving had access to samples of Hughes' handwriting (the billionaire magnate never communicated with anything other than handwritten memos). Together, he and Suskind even broke into the Pentagon and successfully absconded with documents about Hughes' aviation contracts! Hughes was infamous for never confirming nor denying rumors, and so Irving felt safe that no denial of the autobiography would come. Publishers Shelton Fisher (Stanley Tucci) and Harold McGraw (John Carter) swallow the idea hook, line and sinker, and Irving and Suskind manage to convince even journalists who had interviewed with Howard Hughes in the past.
It's entertaining to watch, as Gere perfectly portrays a convincing conman, going to great lengths to continue to keep one step ahead of his publishers every time they start to get a whiff that things aren't kosher. Ultimately, though, what Irving ends up succeeding at is drawing Howard Hughes out of seclusion for a famous speaker-phone television interview, in which he denies any knowledge of Irving. However, the story is also disorienting in places, as Irving becomes separated from reality, at times seeming to channel Howard Hughes for his fake taped interviews, and hallucinating InterTel agents abducting and interrogating him. Bonus features on this release include a nine minute documentary, "Stranger Than Fiction," in which 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace is joined by director Lasse Hallström, screenwriter William Wheeler, and actors Gere, Molina and Harden, as they talk first about the actual event and then the making of the film. The segment includes clips of Wallace interviewing Irving then and now. There are thirteen minutes of six deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Hallström, followed by a six minute extended scene of Irving and Suskind relating their fictional meeting with Hughes to editors over a posh dinner. The final featurette is a four minute segment called, "Mike Wallace: Reflections on a Con," in which the journalist talks more in-depth about his encounters with Clifford Irving. The bonus features menu also hides an easter egg. Navigate over to the image of the microphone, and a Republican elephant will become visible. Clicking this brings up a screen of Irving's tape recorder. Press play, and be serenaded with a four-minute rendition of "Nixon's the One." It will take hours to get this out of your head. The feature presentation includes two commentary tracks, the first one with director Lasse Hallström and screenwriter William Wheeler, the second with producers Leslie Holleran and Joshua Maurer. It seems the producers missed the obvious boat on this one, however, in not bringing in Clifford Irving himself to provide a commentary track -- now that would have made this thing a real seller. Audio is available in either English or Spanish, with optional subtitling in English, Spanish, or French. Previews on this disc include "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "No Country for Old Men," "The Invisible," "Eagle vs. Shark," "Golden Door," and "Becoming Jane." |
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