Steal This Movie

STEAL THIS MOVIE (2000) **1/2 Vincent D'Onofrio, Janeane Garofalo, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kevin Pollak, Donal Logue, Kevin Corrigan, Alan Van Sprang, Troy Garity, Ingrid Veninger, Stephen Marshall, Joyce Gordon, Bernard Kay. The life and times of 1960s radical Yippie political rabble rouser Abbie Hoffman (D'Onofrio, although physically miscast, gives a decent turn) is depicted in this melange in his turbulent life with his wife Anita (Garofalo seemingly too low-keyed) which intersperses real-life newsreel archival footage with at times jarring restaged moments that don't juxtopose neatly. Based on the couples' book 'To America With Love: Letters From the Underground' and Marty Jezer's biography, 'Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel', the results are sketchy and one doesn't get a full realization of the secondary characters except for the infamous Chicago 7 trial in 1968 at The Democratic Convention. One wonders what Oliver Stone would have done with such meaty subject matter. (Dir: Robert Greenwald)

The film is an interesting look, at what appears to be an interesting man. The style of film is distracting at first - it's all a little too busy, but once you get get by that the film is an interesting ride. The performances are great - Janeane Garolfalo and Jeanne Tripplehorn play the women Abbie loved and do it very effectivly. And D'Onofio is great as Hoffman himself - fiery, passionate and very effective. If there's a problem with the movie, it's that it seems too in love with Hoffman to give a truly accuarate picture. It romaticizes his struggle and seems to think that Hoffman did nothing wrong when he sold what appears to be a lot of cocaine to an FBI agent. True, he was set up, but he still sold it. The film breezes past Hoffman's suicide and paints a man like a golden boy, a truly great man. I would have appreciated a more honest look.

Robert Greenwald directs this brilliant biopic of '60s counter-culture rabble-rouser Abbie Hoffman(Vincent D'Onofrio)following his involvement with civil rights demonstrations in the south; his association with the infamous Chicago 7 and his disappearance underground in the '70s. Great mix of actual historic footage and well paced dialogue based on the books of Hoffman and his wife Anita. The perky Janeane Garofalo portrays Anita Hoffman and Jeanne Tripplehorn plays Hoffman's girlfriend Johanna Lawrence. Also in the cast are Kevin Pollak, Troy Garity and Kevin Corrigan. D'Onofrio is excellent in the lead role. This is the least heard account of events, but very thought provoking and interesting.

"Steal This Movie" is the biopic of Abbie Hoffman, the famed activist and self proclaimed "orphan of America." The movie paints a portrait of Abbie as a man who loved his country, only not the way the status quo would have wanted him to. Vincent D'Onofrio plays the lead with a real passion, and Janeane Garofalo also displays competent dramatic ability as Abbie's wife Anita. This movie shows America in the 1960s at its best and worst. What I found interesting was its use of grainy film for flashbacks, to take on the look of a '60s documentary. If you were alive in Abbie Hoffman's time, you either loved him or hated him. Seeing the story of his life may give you a new perspective on who he was.

This film is about the activist years of Yippie Abbie Hoffman and the time after. People expecting to see a biopic about his activism, antics, or books will be dissapointed. The film is about Abbie Hoffman. Not about his efforts, but about him.

The editing is not that great, and the dialogue could have been better, but the scenes are entertaining even without good pacing. D'Onofrio also did his best to portray Hoffman, even though he's 9 inches taller and doesn't look like him. He seems to capture that charisma, that "mojo" that other people seem to like. He' also very good in the second half, when you can tell Abbie is pondering his life - if he's doomed to run forever, is he running from nothing, did he waste his life. He seemed very tortured.

A lot of people may be dissapointed, but this is still a good film. Such a shame it didn't get wide release.