To me, there are 3 things wrong with this film, although they don't make it a bad film...more an incomplete film.
1. At best, it's a 2-dimensional portrait of the man. An extra 7-10 minutes early in the film could have given us a better understanding of what in his youth made him the scrappy, feisty man he became.
2. Did he have a family life? You'd hardly know it. We see his wife occasionally, but with only one scene of any value. Same for his children...almost nonexistent. A few more minutes could have completed the character sketch.
3. I'm no fan of Bobby Kennedy, but the portrayal of Kennedy here by Kevin Anderson seemed downright childish to me.
Having said that, there's a lot of good things about this film. The first, perhaps, being Danny DeVito's strong portrayal of Hoffa's chief aide over much of a lifetime (although the character is fictional). A strong theme of the film is loyalty, and DeVito portrays that extremely well.
As to Jack Nicholson's performance as Hoffa, it's difficult for me to rate. I am old enough to remember Jimmy Hoffa, and I see glimpses of Hoffa in Nicholson's performance. But that's always a problem in biographical films of people we actually remember. We can look at Don Ameche's performance as Alexander Graham Bell and accept it rather readily because we don't personally remember Bell. But some of us remember Hoffa, and it would be a mistake for Nicholson to do an "impression" of Hoffa, because it would be widely criticized. So, he does an admirable job of not letting an impression get in the way of the story.
DeVito also directed this film, and I have to give him credit for the deft manner in which he handled flashbacks. Generally I think that flashbacks are overused in many films. Here the technique worked very well with very smooth transitions.
Of course we don't really know how Hoffa died and disappeared, but the ending of this film is an intriguing and nifty explanation. Very well done.
If you want to get a sense of Jimmy Hoffa the labor leader, this film will accomplish that. If you want a sense of the whole man, you'll be a bit disappointed. But, the film is an admirable effort.
1. At best, it's a 2-dimensional portrait of the man. An extra 7-10 minutes early in the film could have given us a better understanding of what in his youth made him the scrappy, feisty man he became.
2. Did he have a family life? You'd hardly know it. We see his wife occasionally, but with only one scene of any value. Same for his children...almost nonexistent. A few more minutes could have completed the character sketch.
3. I'm no fan of Bobby Kennedy, but the portrayal of Kennedy here by Kevin Anderson seemed downright childish to me.
Having said that, there's a lot of good things about this film. The first, perhaps, being Danny DeVito's strong portrayal of Hoffa's chief aide over much of a lifetime (although the character is fictional). A strong theme of the film is loyalty, and DeVito portrays that extremely well.
As to Jack Nicholson's performance as Hoffa, it's difficult for me to rate. I am old enough to remember Jimmy Hoffa, and I see glimpses of Hoffa in Nicholson's performance. But that's always a problem in biographical films of people we actually remember. We can look at Don Ameche's performance as Alexander Graham Bell and accept it rather readily because we don't personally remember Bell. But some of us remember Hoffa, and it would be a mistake for Nicholson to do an "impression" of Hoffa, because it would be widely criticized. So, he does an admirable job of not letting an impression get in the way of the story.
DeVito also directed this film, and I have to give him credit for the deft manner in which he handled flashbacks. Generally I think that flashbacks are overused in many films. Here the technique worked very well with very smooth transitions.
Of course we don't really know how Hoffa died and disappeared, but the ending of this film is an intriguing and nifty explanation. Very well done.
If you want to get a sense of Jimmy Hoffa the labor leader, this film will accomplish that. If you want a sense of the whole man, you'll be a bit disappointed. But, the film is an admirable effort.