The Tale Of Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman should've turned 55 in July 2022. Here's how I marked his tragic passing in early 2014...
Anyone who closely followed the Philip Seymour Hoffman story won't have been entirely surprised to learn of his death. A long standing substance abuse problem, a recent spell in rehab, the simple fact that he wasn’t the healthiest looking human being - the Capote star had unfortunately long since earned his place in the Hollywood Death Pool, the hideously ghoulish sweepstake that seeks to predict which A-lister will be the next to bid adieu. But if Hoffman's death wasn’t a complete surprise that doesn't make it any less upsetting.
If you write about movies for a living you spend the vast majority of your time watching rubbish. Sure, it's always fun to go to the cinema, but for the most part the critic's lot consists of brainless blockbusters, reheated horror movies, terrible teen pictures and shamefully lazy sequels.
In the midst of so much mediocrity, it's always a pleasure to encounter an actor who can shine no matter how much shit they're being forced to wade through. Philip Seymour Hoffman had this quality in spades. From managing to laugh convincingly at Robin Williams' antics in Patch Adams to successfully competing with the shoddy CGI in Twister, the Academy Award winner always upped his game, pointblank refusing to acknowledge the contrivances of plot or the lack of enthusiasm of his fellow thesps. Because of this, even poor pictures became poorer still whenever Hoffman left the screen.
And if he was good when the chips were down, he was truly great whenever he worked with a director or writer whose talent rivalled his own. Boogie Nights, Almost Famous, Magnolia, The Big Lebowski, The Master, Scent Of A Woman, The Talented Mr Ripley - Hoffman's list of great performances is dauntingly long when you come to recount it even close to fully.
Then there's the not-so-small matter of his range. A scene-stealing drag queen in Flawless, a suspected paedophile priest in Doubt, an apprentice conman in Leap Of Faith - and to think, there are actors who consider a change of hairstyle the definition of diversity.
To single out individual performances is to dilute Hoffman's all-round excellence. Then again, when you're so skilled that you can even add dimension to famed rock bore Lester Bangs - as our hero did in Almost Famous - you deserve to be applauded for it. And after a quartet of great turns in Paul Thomas Anderson's first run of films, it's further testimony to the actor's talent that you couldn't help but be disappointed when he didn’t show up in There Will Be Blood.
Alas now all the talk is of how and why Hoffman died. News channels examining the last interview for 'drug-related behaviour' the way JFK freaks obsess over the Zapruder footage - somehow the real tragedy has already been lost.
But if there’s much to be sad about, there are some small mercies. For since his career took in everything from niche art movies such as Synecdoche, New York and Owning Mahowny to bona fide blockbusters like Mission Impossible III and the Hunger Games saga. PSH was discovered by every stripe of cinemagoer.
And because of this, the future won't see him cursed with the cult anonymity that's dogged late great actors like Warren Oates and Timothy Carey. For whether you're a cineaste or a multiplex man, when in the future people come to ask 'Who was Philip Seymour Hoffman?', your answer will be the same - ''He was among the very best."
Watching Brief
Three essential Hoffman performances.
Capote (2005)
The film that bagged Hoffman the Best Actor Oscar examines how Truman Capote came to write the groundbreaking In Cold Blood. Given the familiarity of Capote's idiosyncrasies - the camp manner, the lazy speaking voice - it says a lot for the actor that he was able to conjure up a fully-rounded character rather than an entertaining impersonation.
Love Liza (2002)
The story of a widower-cum-late-flowering glue sniffer demonstrates how, while other actors might see 'playing ugly' as a stunt, PSH revelled in bringing depth and humanity to characters others might dismiss as freaks. And good on our man for using his clout not to bolster his CV or bank account but to make curiosities like this.
The Master (2012)
Outside of his followers, L Ron Hubbard is widely recognised as a scuzz-ball and a second-rate sci-fi writer. But when Paul Thomas Anderson called on Hoffman to play the Hubbard-esque Lancaster Dodd, the actor made the man both convincing and charismatic. Because you can't hold people like Tom Cruise in thrall unless you're truly compelling