Hoffman

Hoffman

1970 "A sly tale of blackmail about a beauty and her boss"
Hoffman
Hoffman

Hoffman

6.8 | 1h53m | NR | en | Drama

A businessman blackmails his young secretary into spending a weekend with him.

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6.8 | 1h53m | NR | en | Drama | More Info
Released: July. 16,1970 | Released Producted By: Associated British Picture Corporation , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

A businessman blackmails his young secretary into spending a weekend with him.

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Cast

Peter Sellers , Sinéad Cusack , Jeremy Bulloch

Director

John Blezard

Producted By

Associated British Picture Corporation ,

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Reviews

gemmaharris "Hope never dies in a man with a good dirty mind."Hoffman is my favourite film and it shouldn't be - It's slow, not particularly creative, poorly received at the time... so why do I love it so much? Two words. Peter Sellers.Sellers hated this film so much that he wanted to burn the negatives and re-shoot the whole film. His reason? It showed too much of the REAL Peter Sellers, who was well known for the comedic roles he could hide behind. Consequently very few cinemas showed it and even Sellers himself bad mouthed it in interviews. Plus the fact that EMI deliberately tried to sabotage Bryan Forbes' first film. It wasn't the great start it deserved.So who is Hoffman? He is a lonely, manipulative middle aged man who "traps" young, pretty girl into spending a week with him with the intention of fulfilling his fantasies. From the first frame you feel uncomfortable as Sellers opens the door to Sinead Cusack's "Miss Smith". Instantly you know this will not be like any other Sellers film. You can tell why Sellers wanted it destroyed. It's a shame that over the years the film has essentially been swept under the carpet and has only recently been shown on television after a 20 or so year dry period. It really is a gem. It's uncomfortably romantic and Sellers performs at a level that is matched by his Chauncey Gardiner and Strangelove characters.
MartinHafer Hoffman is unusual in that it takes an nontraditional path. Instead of showing the events leading to the conflict, the film begins at the conflict...and then slowly reveals the events leading to this. An unusual choice to say the least. You learn that a lady has been blackmailed by her boss--forcing this engaged woman to spend the week with him in his apartment--though why she agreed and his ultimate goals aren't readily apparent. Sellers' character is NOT just some creepy pervert--there's something more, though what it is is also not readily apparent.As for Sellers, his appearance as "Hoffman" is rather shocking. He appears rather gaunt and pale and this effect is heightened by his extremely subdued performance. He lacks the spark that you might associate with a Sellers performance--though it's all in pursuit of creating his character. His character is not the flamboyant or obvious guy you'd expect from Sellers, though he's not nearly as subdued or flat as Chauncy Gardner from BEING THERE (perhaps my favorite Sellers film). The bottom line is that this film ISN'T a comedy--and such a performance is appropriate in such a case.The central idea of the film, blackmail, makes this a unique but somewhat creepy film--though it could have been worse. The problem is that over time, as you'd completely expect in such a film, she comes to like him and identify with him--and this sort of film MIGHT give the perverts of the world ideas! Hopefully, this was not the case. Oddly, however, despite the basic plot idea being exploitative and creepy, the film manages, by the end, to be rather romantic and sweet! Overall, an interesting little film that might be worth seeing--though it may just give you creepy vibes. Fortunately, despite the premise, there is no rape other non-consensual sex in the film. Worth a look, certainly, but not the sort of film most would expect from a comedian such as Sellers--there is no humor and he doesn't do any of those weird impersonations you might hope to see.
slcagnina Hoffman is nearly 40 years old now, but still, because of the Sellers name, people judge it as if it is supposed to be a comedy. It's not and was never intended as one. It's a portrait of a middle age man so damaged he can't love anymore, and so tries mightily to indulge in lust with a young girl, but he can't even do that correctly, because like all damaged people he was once a true romantic. Once he gets Mrs. Smith in his home, even though it's palpable he wants her sexually in the worst ways, he attempts to woo her – but not sappily; he wants to woo her with a destructive bent that is determined to prove that her love could never be honest since it can't accept anything but facile niceties. He wants to prove his own heart wrong. And if that sounds insane, then the complexity of love must have eluded you; you get old enough, you see how twisted and ugly and naked and needy the human heart really is. This is not a film with action (as if tons of quick cuts and explosions guarantee interesting). It's a Before Sunset type of film, with lots of interesting dialogue and little in the way of other people or the world intruding. The movie centers on two characters who are drawn to one another based on a deep seated pain. Sellers' Hoffman blackmails Mrs. Smith to spend a week with him -- but as I was watching it, I realized that Mrs. Smith had some pain and doubt in her heart just like Hoffman – she's just younger and it hasn't stung as deeply yet; and she must have sent him some signals before the blackmail, because attraction is usually a two way street. She ostensibly is there to save her fiancé from jail time (she and her fiancé and Sellers all work for the same company, but Sellers is an executive who has knowledge of thefts committed by the low-rung employee fiancé)– and her terror at first isn't faked – she's not a drama character being analyzed, she's a real person who is struggling with guilt at lying to her fiancé and fear at not being able to read Hoffman's emotions. But while her initial reactions and emotions aren't forced, they aren't all there is to her presence here, because her second try to leave reveals something more complex – she's trying to convince herself of outrage. Why would she go to all the trouble to dress and find the key to escape only to quit once Sellers sleepwalked her back to bed? She could have waited for him to fall back to sleep soundly – he does this easily. And why would she try to leave again anyway, knowing that the same horrible fate for her fiancé was still on the table? Because maybe she's running this time because something inside her, something dim but growing, doesn't want to run. As the week progresses, Mrs. Smith's frustration intensifies because, as she says, she had prepared herself for the worst things (sexual) and yet, Sellers' Hoffman does not do any of them. She lives in anticipation to get it over with mixed with a need to confirm that Hoffman is a base jerk – but that doesn't happen. He has some sweet moments, even though he's a misogynist in the way a single middle-aged man often is, and his insights into the darker nature of women ring correct (but he knows that they're not the whole truth and by trying to make them the whole truth, he's a bigger hypocrite than the female race he's condemning). This all plays out in a series of scenes so well acted by the principals that it should be taught in acting school to show young actors the beauty of subtlety on the big screen. Cusack is pitch perfect as Mrs. Smith and Sellers was never better than he was playing Hoffman – and this is high praise because Sellers wasn't just a gifted comedic actor – he was one of the best actors of his generation. Like all actors, he was a gun for hire, and he loved the limelight, and this lead to some bad choices. But who else could be Dr. Strangelove, Inspector Clouseau, and Chance Gardener? There's a moment near the end when Mrs. Smith calls him ugly, and the pain of her condemnation flashes over Sellers' whole body, he makes us understand all the sadness of this character in one brief, non-flashy, reaction shot. It's heartbreaking. It should be noted the direction here is excellent – it could have felt like a filmed play, but to me, it didn't. Sex Degrees of Separation and Closer – two films I enjoyed, feel like filmed plays to me. Hoffman, even though it uses one locale (Hoffman's apartment) as its primary set, always felt like a movie in and of itself while I was watching it. My only quibble is the ending. It needed to be darker. And in a movie like this, so predicated on characters and their fates, that would usually kill the experience for me. But it didn't. Because I wished these characters would find some happiness, so I went along with the fantasy, even though I knew the relationship as defined by the rest of the movie could never work. If you like Sellers, buy this one. If you like quality character driven dramas, buy this one. It's an unjustly forgotten gem.
dver17 This happens to be one of the most underrated films of Peter Sellers' career. For some reason the critics and book writers have (in their majority) faced the film as a comedy (have they seen the film?), when it is clear it is a drama with just little sparkles of comedy...Peter Sellers and Sinead Cusack are wonderful in their roles and I have to admit I have seen the film more than 10 times in my life (I never have enough!). For the critisism the film faced, one can say that generally Peter Sellers was in the target of certain columnists who never fail to badmouth the successful and the famous (a bad comment always sells more). So, the film (and others of this era of Sellers' career)was an easy target to hit the star and not judge the film for its essence... The film also features wonderful music and it's a pity the soundtrack was never released...