on The Hoax

saw 2 movies on the flights to and from Wisconsin. one was Spider-Man 3, which i previously saw when it first came out. i'm happy to report that it holds up to a second viewing... in fact, i was even more forgiving of the end sequence than i was initially (probably because i knew what was coming). Spider-Man 3 - a great movie.

the other movie i saw was The Hoax. it came out last year, stars Richard Gere as the author in the 70s that tried to claim he was writing the autobiography of Howard Hughes - with Howard's help of course. the whole thing turns out to be, well, a hoax of course, but even though you know the end it's still quite a trip.

Richard Gere's acting was magnificent, and i'm not normally a fan. however, Alfred Molina as his comedic sidekick stole the show. everyone else did pretty good as well.

the movie is directed by Lasse Hallstrom - who directed other great movies like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules, Chocolate, and The Shipping News - and it shows. under the direction of almost anyone else this movie would have taken a "dark" turn (think A Beautiful Mind) later in the movie... and it might have been interesting to SEE what someone else would have done with the source material... but i think it's even MORE interesting to see what Lasse did, because he took the road less traveled.

The Hoax. if you're a fan of Lasse Hallstrom's work, it's definitely worth a viewing. if you have no idea WHO Lasse Hallstrom is, it's still worth a viewing. it's not your typical Hallstrom movie but you can feel his presence, no doubt.

- kawitchate