Paranoia prison

The Hoax reveals the quality of life of a notorious liar | John Dawson

He who digs a pit falls into it: The Hoax is a film about disgraced author Clifford Irving, whose fabricated autobiography of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes cost him his reputation and 14 months in prison on fraud charges.

Ironically, the credits list Irving as a technical consultant, but Irving has said that the Lasse Hallstrom-directed picture distorts the facts. It seems fitting to question the veracity of a film based on Irving's autobiography describing how he attempted to bilk McGraw-Hill out of close to $1 million. But however factual the film about events of the early 1970s is, The Hoax (rated R for language and brief nudity) is an interesting and suspenseful ride through the life of a man trying to make his career out of a lie so spectacular that many people believed it.