Passed by this at FYE the other day, it has Jack Nicholson in it, it was 12.99$, if it was cheaper I might've picked it up.

But, is it any good?

Pros: It's Jack Nicholson, so it has some merit. Not a classic, but entertaining. His portrayal of Hoffa is outstanding.

Cons: It paints Robert Kennedy as a real dumb-ass, which is insulting to anyone who knows history. Without giving too much away, Danny DeVito's character is also questionable.

The speculation of how Hoffa died is interesting - since we'll never know, it's certainly plausible how they killed him in the film.

Worth a rental, definitely. It's on tv often enough so don't buy it.

Its a pretty decent film..not brilliant but certainly watchable..
I enjoyed it but as Goombah says i would'nt bother buying it..

I'm with Goombah and Yogi all the way. Ok as far as it goes, doesn't go far enough.

whats with all the movies about gangsters having a title with the guys last name? "Hoffa", "Gotti"

Well, for one thing, it lets you know who the main character is. It also gives a general idea of who the movie centers around.

Jimmy Hoffa and John Gotti were both famous gangsters.

:rolleyes:

whats that face for?

I just saw Hoffa twice. It's pretty good. Nicholson gives an excellent performance as James R. and DeVito is decent as Bobby Cicaro. Though, yeah the movie had it's flaws, like making RFK a total imbecile. :rolleyes: But it was still pretty good.

7/10

"One day your gonna be president of the United States Jim."

"Fuck that. One day I'll be president of the Teamsters."

Anybody know if Danny DeVito's character was real or was it creative license by the writer(s)?

It was based on Hoffa's different associates over the years...

If you are really interested in James Hoffa, there are two books out, one called "The Teamsters" and another called "Hoffa's Man."


Don Cardi

Thanks Don Cardi. I'm semi-interested, but more about the circumstances involving his disappearance/murder. Is that discussed at length in either book you mentioned?

I just turned on AMC and saw the end.

Spoiler
Is there any credibility to the depiction of his murder?

That's just it, know one, (except his killers of course ) really knows. It's all theory.

Don Cardi

Excellent film, although so heavily fictionalized it made me wince a few times... in particular, the ending is about as realistic as having Hoffa abducted by aliens. (Amusingly enough, if old Frankie's recent deathbed confession is true, the film should have ended with, more or less, Ciaro betraying and shooting Hoffa, since that would reflect the true events pretty closely, considering that Ciaro is heavily based on Frank...)

Additionally, though the DVD is packed with extras, they are from laserdisc, so there isn't much truly new material there. I missed any documentary on the real Hoffa as an extra, too...

Along with Batman, I think Nicholson gave the best performance of his career in Hoffa. He had Hoffa down pat, voice, expressions et al. Surprisingly, the movie was made in Pittsburgh.

Anybody see a Hoffa movie (forgot the name as I only caught a few minutes of it) where Robert Blake played Hoffa? It was just on within the last week.

The movie you are talking about is " Blood Fued."

Not a bad movie, but not really an accurate portrayal of Hoffa. Blake made Hoffa look a bit too paranoid in that movie and Hoffa was far from being paranoid.


Don Cardi

Did anyone else find the way the way they portrayed Robert F. Kennedy comical? "Well suh, you'll stahht when I finish suhh. Suhh, when I finish you will stahht."

I think they used transcripts from the Senate hearings. The remaining portrayal of Bobby was less than accurate and honorable. However, they did capture the hostility between Bobby and Hoffa just right. I thought the ending was a bit much. An out in the open murder using a semi like that - I assume they had to wipe out all the witnesses in the road house also. By the way, I don't think Hoffa should be classified as a gangster.

Me neither. He was just a corrupt union leader.

Hoffa was sent to federal prison. However, in the scene where he is in prison talking to his wife there's an error. On the wall behind them is the seal of the State of Pennsylvania. It seems like an obvious error to me. I wonder why continuity didn't catch it.