When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I knew we'd have to go see it, as I have been familiar with the story for years.  The Hoax is the true story (well, as true as you can get when the person giving the account lies about everything) of Clifford Irving, a writer who is desperate to get a book published.  His first book, about a famous art forger, was well-received but sold poorly.  Now his new novel is being dropped by his publisher after Life Magazine gives it a poor review.  Out of ideas, out of money, nearly out of hope, Irving devises a bold plan: he tells his publisher that he has been in contact with reclusive billionaire nut Howard Hughes, and he has been chosen to write Hughes' autobiography.

What follows is a complex and farcical tale of lies building on top of each other, of intrigue, and of one man's inability to tell the truth about anything unless it serves his own purpose.  With his best friend/researcher and estranged wife as accomplices, he tries to devise a way to finish the book and collect the large advance due both him and Mr. Hughes, all the while hoping to convince the publisher and the public that the indirect denials from Hughes are untrue.

Richard Gere puts on a decent performance as Irving, but I just felt that a different actor could have carried the role much further.  I never found the character appealing enough to root for, yet despite his bottomless pit of treachery to those he supposedly cares about I also never really despised him, or even felt sorry for him.  The only character I felt much of anything for was his friend (played by Alfred Molina), who is pulled into this web of lies and finds it goes against what he believes in.  The deeper things get, the more he struggles to extricate himself from the situation.  Alas, nobody can escape once the wheels have been put in motion.

Overall the film is enjoyable, if not completely satisfying.  And in the end, one is left wondering how much of the account we've been shown is true, and how much has been altered by time and Irving's silver tongue over the years to fit whatever truth he is now professing (he later wrote a book about the experience, from which most of this movie is adapted).  Really, how can you trust an admitted liar to tell you the truth about himself?