Hoffa
by Danny DeVito
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DVD details
Actor: Armand Assante, Danny DeVito, J.T. Walsh, Jack Nicholson, John C. ReillyDirector: Danny DeVito
Brand: Fox
Writer: David Mamet
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Hoffa
DVD Review: A remarkably professional and realistic movie that will overwhelm viewers
Summary: 5 Stars
Hoffa (1992) is a remarkably professional and realistic movie that will overwhelm viewers
with the personality of Hoffa, leaving them in awe of having witnessed a significant recreation of American history.
Jack Nicholson carries the picture from start of finish, leaving no doubt in the leader's determination in succeeding on his mission, which is organizing labor for effective bargaining purposes against the owners and shareholders of various major corporations - often in trucking. The extras section explains
that the leader dedicated his life, round-the-clock to the mission, never treating it as a mere 9 to 5 job chore, making full use of a photographic memory to master the faces and names of those he met, in addition to showing respect, kindness to members to win their trust, their loyalty and to merit the position
as leader.
The increase in the rights of labor, accompanies the progression of rights for African Americans, women and of all minorities, bringing them into the 21st century.
The movie dramatizes the difficulty in getting things done, and puts forth the concept that leading labor requires the coming to terms that one is putting one's life on the line, literally, at various key junctures, but mainly when the territory, power and finances affecting other interest groups is at stake (that of the owners, and the underworld in particular.)
The charisma of Danny DeVito is plain to see, with a remarkable skill in articulating both maturity, credibility, humanity and friendliness, in various scenes, in a very agile and multifaced way. Armand Assante as the gangster boss is effective but seems comfortable mainly in this type of role.
The story shows how Devito's character, Bobby Ciaro, early on met up with Hoffa, and they became a one-two punch combination - head and shoulders above any rival competition - in maintaining control and power over teamster operations, and in scoring high satisfaction numbers from union members.
Launching his career as a leader, with an idea and passion (based in part from being of a poor immigrant family, at a time when medicaid, medicare and social security failed to exist), Hoffa is an agitator of sorts, with a pragmatic strategy of gaining people's trust and persuading them to sign up. Fights,
conflicts and resistence ensues from people with opposing interests, Hoffa having the character of a boxer, never shying away from any confrontation, but rather, looking forward to it.
The period piece aspect is tremendous from a visual presentation point of view, from the rooms, clothes, trucks and automobiles, buildings, etc. The extras contains valuable tips on how various scenes were made, which is spiffy from a layman's perpective... the unparalleled creativity, patience, commitment and
complexity in shooting various scenes and making the underlying mechanics invisible.
While the story suggests Hoffa cut a deal with the mob by necessity (avoiding being murdered, and to hold the reigns of power), at the outset, Hoffa doesn't shy away from borrowing confrontational tactics, including arson, (with special
F/X), in order to get his points across, during negotiations.
The usual scab vs. strikers, financial hardship, tension, and the need for the law to intervene and pacify both sides is shown, as accidental deaths and broken bones result from confrontations using pistols, crowbars, etc. Loaded double barrel shotguns are needed as protection at times, as is a revolver in a vehicle for self-protection.
Some time is spent referring to Daniel Tobin's influence on various outcomes, inbetween Hoffa's own decisions of various events.
At the highest level, trust and a good personal relationship is key in workingout key deals, in this case, skimming or directing the Teamster pension fund, todirect it towards Nevada casino gambing and hotel developments, operatedto a significant degree by underworld interests.
The story (as well as the extras) shows the leader on the hotseat, with RFK leading the McClellend hearings, investigating organized labor, unclear dealings, cash payments, intimidation tactics and more in the Senate, 5 years after the underworld hearings (during which Valacchi made his revelations.) The ultimate gladiator debacle occurs, when Hoffa goes up against owners giving up
nothing and making no compromise in a strike, as is the case when the leader goes up against RFK. His purpose is not merely getting to the bottom of the matter, but building a spotless, no-defeat record in a prosecutorial or accusatory role ( as with boxers, horses on the racing tracks or pitchers in baseball games), in view of being rocketed to various ambitious positions in
public life that he had set for himself. Those ends justifying the means, and Hoffa feeling he has sufficiently little to hide, he declines in pleading the 5th Amendment, thereby subjecting himself to RFK's combative, numerous, annoying a manipulative line of questioning, not least of which is to degrade Hoffa's public prestige and mass media image. An example is the rehearsed
finger pointing of being or harboring communists in his union, being in bed with the mob, harassed in explaining how he cobbled up as little as $20,000 in cash, etc.
It turns out later that wire-tapping, eavesdropping and the use of immunity in exchange for testimony results in Hoffa doing at least 5 years behind bars, as the courtroom wrestling ring turns out to be a game with a completely different set of rules that Hoffa was trained for, with its own nuances, preparation,
education, strategy and ideological inclinations that he failed to have.
Perhaps this in itself, is not entirely surprising, as one man, Hoffa, had become almost synonymous with the teamsters - that without him, they were diminished or would change fundamentally.
Once more, high-end clubs are shown as chosen spots for the underworld, namely, the Copacabana, from where Carol D'Allesandro is shown holding meetings.
Released early through a special deal to never return to his former position,Hoffa eventually learns of this deal, is abhorred, astonished and disagrees with its implications - being separated from his life-long calling, passion and work.
With over 5 years having passed in jail, Hoffa has lost touch with the mob and much of his clout, his replacement having allowed the status-quo to go by, which pleases members, owners, etc.
Sharing with his confidants that he'll go to the media to expose this deal,Hoffa is "taken out", thereby eliminating the possibility of dragging down everybody else as a vengeance - which actually happened to Leroy Barnes, for example, a few decades later.
The picture has a mature rating mainly for the profanity used, but also for the intimidation and mob riots recreated on film.
Description of Hoffa
Screenwriter David Mamet's script combines real people with fictional characters in an attempt to portray the important people in Jimmy Hoffa's life. Danny DeVito's and Armand Assante's characters are actually composites of numerous Hoffa associates.Director/co-star Danny DeVito's unforgettable epic stars Jack Nicholson as Jimmy Hoffa, the legendary Teamster boss whose mysterious disappearance has never been explained. The film traces Hoffa's passionate struggle to shape the nation's most influential labor union, his relationship with the Mob, and his subsequent conviction and prison term at the hand of Robert Kennedy.
A titanic performance by Jack Nicholson powers this fact-and-fiction biography of Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. From the opening moment--Hoffa sitting alone in the back of a car--Nicholson's performance is one of his best, and a rare role as a historical person. The sweeping all-American story of a common worker who reaches the highest pinnacle in the world's most powerful union is sweepingly told with wondrous detail, in wardrobe, sets, and trucks. The better-documented facts of Hoffa's life, including his struggle against Attorney General Bobby Kennedy (Kevin Anderson), supply the backbone of the story. But the hope of what the Teamsters are to the American Dream is what makes the film glow (swept along by David Newman's score). The screenplay by David Mamet takes two wild and entertaining divergences from fact. The first is the character of Hoffa's ubiquitous sidekick Bobby Ciaro, played by the film's director, Danny DeVito. It's a fictitious role, a composite character that allows the story to be clearly told, as does the second--Mamet's explanation of Hoffa's famous disappearance. --Doug Thomas
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