I usually find Richard Gere smarmy, but I have to admit that when he’s on, he’s awfully good. In The Hoax, he’s on. Alfred Molina and Hope Davis also turn in great performances as believably flawed characters. The screenplay is sly, and the movie treats the audience as both intelligent and perceptive. The only thing that grated was the use of period footage and music, which was so obviously interspersed that it felt like clumsy scene-setting.