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10 Roles To Remember Philip Seymour Hoffman By

10 Roles To Remember Philip Seymour Hoffman By

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The tragic and unexpected death Sunday of one of the pillars of modern-day American film and theater prompts an retrospective of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s career. This Oscar-winning artist has been featured in more than 60 film and TV roles including the “Hunger Games” hits. Here are 10 movie parts, in no particular order, that include his most memorable roles. Rest in peace, maestro.

leparisian.fr
leparisian.fr

1. ‘Boogie Nights’

Hoffman wasn’t a household name yet, but he was on his merry way when he played a member of Paul Thomas Anderson’s formidable gallery of actors in this 1999 dramedy. “Boogie Nights” chronicles behind-the-scenes antics of the 1970s porn industry. Hoffman plays Scotty J., a plump, benign man-child with flat-ironed hair who is the microphone guy on the smarmy sets, and who has a starving crush on Mark Wahlberg’s character which he tries to make into a romance in one hilarious, awkward scene between the two actors.

Source: imdb.com

thereelist.com
thereelist.com

2. ‘Almost Famous’

As Lester Bangs, Hoffman plays the Rolling Stone journalist who gives some tough-love mentoring to a young, starry-eyed hopeful writer William Miller in “Almost Famous.” Hoffman has only a few scenes, but he blows the roof off the building in each one. Drug-addled, genius, and frantic with excitement about rock and roll, Hoffman’s character accurately represents a generation of music freaks and writers long gone. A truly nostalgic, heartwarming film — see it if you’ve never had the pleasure.

Source: imdb.com

filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com
filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com

3. Love Liza

An indie film which never really found its wings at the box office, this is probably the one that put Hoffman on the serious lead-actor map with critics. His Wilson Joel character, in deep despair after his wife commits suicide, takes the audience on a sullen, dark path as he huffs paint fumes and paints model airplanes, seeking some sort of alternate reality in a tragic situation. Punctuated with brief moments of comedy, and featuring Kathy Bates as his mother-in-law, this is ultimately one of Hoffman’s biggest downer roles — but one that should be shown in acting classes always.

Source: imdb.com, rogerebert.com

imdb.com
imdb.com

4. “Along Came Polly”

Perhaps not the most lauded film (and in my opinion, kind of an unfortunate exercise to watch at times), there is thankfully salvation for Hoffman as Sandy Lyle, Ben Stiller’s risk assessor best friend, who sports a strange near-mullet hairdo and thinks he has all the answers. There’s a the scene where they rehearse “Jesus Christ Superstar” (also found on YouTube), which shouldn’t be missed. This role is proof of Hoffman’s versatility, and his ability to save a middling film.

Source: imdb.com

indiatimes.com
indiatimes.com

5. “Capote”

Well, here we are. Perhaps the jewel in the crown of Hoffman’s unprecedented career, his Oscar-winning portrayal of troubled, brilliant writer Truman Capote during the research and writing of Capote’s bestseller, “In Cold Blood,” is beyond comparison. Capote’s bizarre, selfish, struggling approach to the world is examined here, and Hoffman does not hold back from revealing this great writer’s flaws. His dysfunctional-yet-functioning relationships with the imprisoned subject of his novel, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.), and his concerned best friend, Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), enrich this dark, incredible film.

Source: imdb.com

thefoxisblack.com
thefoxisblack.com

6. “The Savages”

Brothers and sisters. That’s what this film is about. Hoffman plays Jon Savage, a university professor in Buffalo, who collects his semi-estranged sister Wendy (played by Laura Linney) in New York City to accompany him back to Sun City, Ariz., to tend to their dying father. Through deeply comedic and melancholy moments, we explore with Wendy and Jon what being related to each other can be like — a blend of the pleasant and the deeply unpleasant. Hoffman shines here!

Sources: imdb.com, rogerebert.com

dvdtalk.com
dvdtalk.com

7. Before the Devil Knows you’re Dead

This is one of his intense roles, and an even darker illumination of siblings and families. Desperate and lacking in morals, Andy and Hank (Hoffman and Ethan Hawke), hire someone to rob their own parent’s jewelry store at gunpoint. When that plan goes terribly wrong, the two actors and legendary director Sidney Lumet plunge us into a tailspin as the brothers try pathetically to cover up their crimes and their guilty consciences. Hoffman is hard to watch at times — a sputtering and frustrated man who we almost want to see get away with his crimes.

Source: imdb.com

amazon.com
amazon.com

8. ‘Synecdoche, New York’

This is my personal pick for the greatest Philip Seymour Hoffman film! While the others are really great, this unsung Charlie Kaufman gem is so…different from anything ever made. Caden Cotard is an unhappy theater director in upstate New York who goes through the strangest midlife crisis ever: he rallies a troupe of actresses to portray the women in his life, and builds a mock New York City in a warehouse. What happens next and throughout is sort of hard to explain, but the film is so profound, so sad and happy, such the stuff of life and death, thriving and decaying, and Hoffman covers every emotion since perhaps Olivier as Hamlet. Roger Ebert (who called this film the best of the 2000s), says in his review: “Think about it a little, and, my God, its about you.”

Sources: rogerebert.com, imdb.com

douvt1

9. “Doubt”

Another of Hoffman’s four Oscar nominations, he plays Brendan Flynn, presiding over a Catholic school flock in 1960s Bronx with great pastoral patience and tenderness. Until Sister Aloysius comes along, played by a hurricane named Meryl Streep, who blames Flynn for getting too close to one of his male students. Hoffman and Streep face off in a battle of wills and morals. The fury that erupts from a man who claims he’s been wrongfully accused is portrayed so intensely by Hoffman, it could be his finest hour in acting.

Source: imdb.com

independent.co.uk
independent.co.uk

10. “The Master”

While not his last great work (luckily we still have some “Hunger Games” films to be released), his role as Lancaster Dodd in Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning film landed Hoffman his final Oscar nomination. Representing the leader of a group of followers which many viewers have agreed reflects Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard, Hoffman charms, cajoles, and chills the viewer with his multi-faceted take on a mentor with a dark side. Along with the volatile Joaquin Phoenix it’s quite a unique film, uncomfortable at times, but towered over by superb acting and worth watching. Hoffman is of the greatest character actors of all time, and he left too soon.

Source: imdb.com