A month ago, had I been asked to name some Dustin Hoffman films, I would have spit out “Tootsie”, “Rain Man”, maybe “The Graduate”. All older classic films. By what I first thought was sheer coincidence, within the span of a couple weekends, I happened to see 3 recently made movies which prominently feature Dustin Hoffman:
- I Heart Huckabee’s
- Meet the Fockers
- Finding Neverland
I don’t know why I haven’t been paying more attention to him as an actor. What struck me in my accidental Hoffman marathon was just how different the movies and roles were to each other. Fabulous, fabulous ability to shift into the different roles, effortlessly, judging from the films. Seeing him slip between those roles reminded me of how well he did playing the idiot savant in “Rain Man”. Great talent, and he seems to have an ability to pick up some good roles.
I thought that seeing him in so many relatively current movies was somewhat strange, especially in addition to the brief cameo appearence in the Lemony Snickett movie I also happened to see very recently. Turns out Mr. Hoffman has been very busy, especially as of late. Over the last 15 years, he has been in at least one, and as many as four movies, every year except 1993,1994, and 2000. [IMBD] even has him listed involved in four movies for 2006.
Busy guy, good parts. Never realized how much I like him as an actor until now. I will have to add him to my checklist for movies.
You can watch him knee-deep in method acting in the classic thriller “Marathon Man” opposite Laurence Olivier who was not impressed with Hoffman’s obsessive acting tendencies, then watch him chew up his scenes in a fun, caper romp called “Confidence.” Let’s not forget his role as “Mumbles” in Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy.” I have never seen his role as Ratso Rizzo in “Midnight Cowboy,” though, I hear it’s one of his best.
Speaking of “The Graduate,” one of Richard Dreyfuss’ first roles, and featuring Mr. Roper from “Three’s Company” as a…. landlord, Anne Bancroft died Monday from cancer. She was only a few years older than Hoffman and was married to Mel Brooks for over 40 years. She too was a fabulous actor and was absolutely hilarious as a mother trying to have a nice Thanksgiving in “Home for the Holidays.”
I’ve had the same revelation about Hoffman, but mine came a few years ago so I’m a little ahead of the game. He’s definitely great in “Midnight Cowboy.” It’s actually kind of similar to his “Rain Man” role in a lot of ways. He also got a lot of early fame for “All the President’s Men.” I thought he was great in “Meet the Fockers” too. In fact, I had to think long and hard about how much better I thought he was than Robert De Niro. Bobby D has really fallen from grace with me. He pretty much plays the same character in every movie now and is just cashing in on his image. Hoffman continues to mix it up.