Memorable, crazy movie

How sad is this?

Fantastic!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

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.

I don't care that the ending was fictional, because it was poetically correct. The life of Hoffa was poetical in its intensity, and the burning righteousness of the man comes through in this picture. Nicholson plays Hoffa excellently on his own terms, conveying the fearlessness of the man and his complex relationship to the mobsters who cashed in on his enormous pension fund by taking legal loans that Hoffa didn't skim. The climax of the story is genuinely tragic as Hoffa is persecuted by Bobby Kennedy, thrown in prison, and murdered by the mob when he gets out and tries to get his union, the Teamsters, back under his control. The motivation of Hoffa drives this picture and its a scandal that the film apparently never made a profit, presumably because of prejudice against unions in the mass-media. Hats off to Danny De Vito for putting up the money for this picture and for directing it and co- starring. His depiction of Hoffa's little lifelong under-man is fine. Altogether a high-minded and grand picture that held my attention for the duration, and moved me at the end. More American movies like this would help their cause no end.

In spite of a very accurate impersonation by Jack Nicholsen, this film is a failure because it completely whitewashes what a cretinous character the real James Hoffa was.Jimma Hoffa was charismatic, but he was also completely corrupt and played one of the biggest roles in allowing organized crime to take over one of the largest unions in the United States, and by doing so, bilking thousands of honest, hardworking people of pay and benefits.Read a history of Hoffa and you'll see a man who did everything he could to eliminate owner-operator truckers as a means of controlling all truckers. He wanted all drivers under the powerful fist of the union. You'll also see a predator who schemed to take over many existing enterprises by getting a foot in the door, striking, taking over and then allowing one or more of his thugs to exact tribute (often under their wife's name) in return for good labor relations.These are just a few examples of the corruption forced upon honest businesses by Hoffa and his criminal associates. Read history to know the real man, see the film to see a nice impersonation and a BS history.

Perhaps I should have known more of the history of Jimmy Hoffa and the labor movement before I undertook watching this film. Then maybe I would have followed it more closely. For me it was a blur of shouted arguments, back room deal making, riots and bullying. It was difficult for me to understand what the heck was going on.But Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito portrayed their characters so well that the movie held my attention from beginning to end. I especially liked the scenes that pitted Jimmy Hoffa against Robert Kennedy.Also, the ending, the demise of Jimmy Hoffa seemed pure Hollywood, which is to say spectacular and implausible. Everyone wonders about the last hours of Jimmy Hoffa's life and I don't think this film really answers that.