On this Super Bowl Sunday where we all come together to watch sports at its finest – February 2, 2014 will go down as a truly tragic day in Movie History. I will depart from the normal formula of these daily posts and just offer a few brief thoughts on Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Anyone who considers themselves to be a film buff is a fan of this great actor. Over the past nearly two decades, many of my favorite pictures involved him. His work with director Paul Thomas Anderson forged one of the best director/actor partnerships in recent history. The evidence is found in Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and The Master.
There’s his brilliant comedic work in The Big Lebowski. He’s also a high point with his comedy skills in Along Came Polly.
There’s his turn in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, possibly my favorite picture of this century so far. There’s his villainous turn in Mission: Impossible III.
Twister. Patch Adams. The Talented Mr. Ripley. Red Dragon. 25th Hour. Doubt. Moneyball. The Ides of March. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
In 2005, he would win a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote. It was an astonishing performance. Sadly, his main competitor for the award that year was Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. Now they’re both gone.
2007 was a watershed year for Hoffman with terrific work in The Savages, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, and Charlie Wilson’s War.
As a movie lover, Hoffman’s death is devastating. There was so many more fabulous performances to be witnessed. May he rest in peace. I know I’ll take a moment or two out of this day to watch him making me laugh in Lebowski or showing me his incredible abilities in Almost Famous or Charlie Wilson’s War.
That’s today – a sad day indeed – in Movie History.
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