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The Hoax Directed by Lasse Hallström. Written by William Wheeler, based upon the book by Clifford Irving. Cinematography, Oliver Stapleton. Music, Carter Burwell. Starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Julie Delpy and Stanley Tucci. Miramax Films, 2007. R. 115 minutes.
Richard Gere has a lot of nerve. For years, Gere has been showing up to work in essentially the same set of clothes, as if merely looking good in them entitled him to a career. Few actors perform with such smug disregard for the variety and challenges of their profession, let alone commit themselves to a single persona: the brooding, prickly, successful (or soon to be successful) alpha male. Exceptions to this rule, like the classic Days of Heaven and the popular An Officer and a Gentleman, showed a hungrier side to Gere, but he’s settled into portrayals of white-collar man-prizes for the better part of two decades now. He’s so perfected the perfectly dull capitalist winner that, to my mind, he’s been daring us to abandon him. Which makes Gere’s phenomenal performance in The Hoax all the more frustrating and beguiling. Read more…
An Unreasonable Man Written and directed by Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan. Produced by Kevin O’Donnell and Alexis Provost. Music, Joe Kraemer. With Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan, Joan Claybrook, Phil Donahue, Justin Martin, William Greider and Howard Zinn. IFC First Take, 2007. 122 minutes. Not rated.
Though it’s been years since the 2000 election, bringing up Ralph Nader is still a dicey proposition with some people. Nader’s Green Party bid for the presidency, depending on your point of view, painted the longtime consumer rights advocate as an idealist trying to change the system — or as a horrible spoiler who cost Al Gore the Oval Office. Read more…