Movie recommendation

I don't usually offer up suggestions for movies to people.

I like what I like, but I don't go to a lot of movies and I don't rent a lot of movies.

When I was at the video store Christmas Eve picking out a few things to watch over my break, I was really just not interested in a lot of what they had.

But this one jumped out at me.

"The Hoax" starring Richard Gere.

Now Gere is OK. I have no particular like or dislike of him. He has done some good work and some bad work.

But the story was what interested me.

It is the story of Clifford Irving, the author who convinced McGraw-Hill that he was writing an authorized biography of Howard Hughes.

This all took place in the early 1970s. So I was a baby and do not actually remember it.

The movie is based on Irving's own book, "The Hoax," which details the scam.

In addition to Gere, the cast includes Marcia Gay Hardin as his wife, Alfred Molina as the bumbling co-conspirator, Hope Davis as his editor and McGraw-Hill and Stanley Tucci as the head of the publishing house.

There are also good, smaller performances by Julie Delpy and Zeljko Ivanek. I have seen Ivanek in several things and think he is a good, underrated actor.

There is a great exchange between Gere's Irving and Ivanek's Ralph Graves of Life magazine.

The movie is from 2006, which shows you how behind I am with movie watching.

Anyway, it is told in a funny yet serious way. And it really is a interesting story of how this one guy roped in his friend and his wife in order to perpetrate his fraud on the world, which at that time was fascinated with the reclusive Hughes.

If you have not seen this movie and want something with a great story, I would say get "The Hoax." It is one of those movies you have to really watch though.

It has fast-paced dialogue and a lot of the story is about how Irving juggled all the lies.

It makes me want to go get his book now to find out more.