The Hoax, while a well-directed, well-acted, thought-provoking film, causes about as much buzz as Richard Gere’s career post-Chicago.

Set in the Nixon era, Lasse Hallstrom’s (Casanova, Chocolat) The Hoax revolves around the story of Clifford Irving (Gere), a writer whose last novel has just been rejected by McGraw-Hill. On the edge of bankruptcy, he promises the board the “book of the century.” Then Irving forges three letters to say Howard Hughes wrote to him. The letters state that Irving is to be the writer of Hughes’ biography and will have exclusive access to documents and interviews with Hughes as said writer.

McGraw-Hill immediately offers Irving (and Hughes) an advance for the book. With no way out now, Irving finds himself jettisoned into a world of lies and deceit—lies he begins to believe himself.

This false life does not end with his book, as Irving conducts a secret, fruitless affair with a semi-actress.

The irony is that so much of his life is falsified to those around him that Irving begins to confuse himself. He starts to believe that he is in communication with Hughes on some level—that he understands exactly what the billionaire wants from him.

As the mixed up author, Richard Gere creates a complex character and restores the sexiness he lost during the chorus of “Razzle Dazzle.”

Yet, the movie was not exciting. It was relieving that the writer delved into the character and made it more than just the traditional story of a fraud. It interested me, it even entertained me, but I wasn’t calling my friends about it afterwards. It’s just another movie to rent on a lazy Sunday afternoon, not a Friday night movie theater event.