Director Lasse Hallström seems to have a problem developing his stories into something more than a chain of events. This film, like Hallström's other efforts (Casanova, What's Eating Gilbert Grape) is interesting enough but it fails to have any real depth or meaning. Where Hallström succeeds is in the charm of his film. This is probably mostly due to the topic, the film is about a failing writer who attempts to execute a broad scam on the publishing industry. Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), along with his conflicted cohort Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina) cons McGraw-Hill executives into believing they have the official autobiography of Howard Hughes. The story takes place in 1971 when Hughes' legendary status was at its height. There is always a naughty charm to con films and Hallström does a solid job of getting the audience to enjoy the con.

This film runs into the same problem Spielberg ran into with his conman movie, Catch Me if You Can, answering the question "who cares?". The film fails to deliver much beyond its basic narrative. There's no grand statement, no memorable scenes and no real purpose beyond simply delivering a story. The audience will get an inherent vicarious thrill from watching a con going down, but, in reality, the filmmaker is asking us to support a lie. When the liar doesn't have a good reason for us to a) support him or b) like them, then there's trouble. Watching something get away with a crime can be fun in the same way playing a prank can be fun. But like playing a prank, the fun is often abruptly cut to size by the consequences. The final act, where the conman gets his punishment, reminds the audience that this was about an evil being perpetrated. While its good that doing evil is shown ending in punishment, this lets all of the air out of the story.

I enjoyed a good portion of this movie despite the fact that Hallström does become unfocused. Gere's performance, while not brilliant, is lively. In addition, Molina does well in his supporting role and he mixes well with Gere's dominant presence. Overall, however I can't recommend the movie because it doesn't give me a good enough reason to do so. If you enjoy stories about cons you'll find something interesting here. If you're into well-written characters and narratives, you'll come up short.


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