SCREEN

While Demme's Hughes narrative was a comic tragedy, Hallstrom's is more of a tragic comedy, with a jaunty tone and a snappy pace that affords star Gere, as Irving, the chance to give his loosest performance in years. He exudes a sort of manic desperation as the mildly successful author who in the early 1970s, after seeing his latest novel rejected by his publisher, concocts from thin air the notion that he has been selected as Hughes' official biographer. Along with his trusty sidekick and researcher (Molina), Irving sets out to learn everything he can about Hughes, all in the name of propping up his increasingly untenable charade.

Hallstrom has spent far too long in the doldrums of airy prestige pictures, and his last effort to be whimsical, 2005's Casanova, was a bit of a mess. But here he strikes the right balance between humor and introspection, delving into Irving's simultaneous narcissism and self-loathing while keeping the absurdity of the situation constantly apparent. He's helped by Gere's enthusiastic performance, and solid supporting turns from Molina and Harden, Davis and Julie Delpy as the women in Irving's life.

There's a bit of overreaching for political relevance and some dodgy magic realism toward the end, but as an exploration of another way that Hughes inspired (or enabled) a peculiarly American mania, the film rarely misses its mark.