Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Geoff Carter
He is one of the most recognizable screen actors working today. In a career that has spanned six decades, Dustin Hoffman has portrayed a variety of characters ranging from alienated college kids (The Graduate) to street hustlers (Midnight Cowboy) to investigative reporters (All the President’s Men) to convicted felons (Papillon). Dustin Hoffman is not only a talented and versatile dramatic actor but is also a gifted comedic performer as well. From subtle understated humor to broad comedic portrayals (see Mr. Fokker in Meet the Fokkers), Hoffman can always make us laugh.
As Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, Hoffman managed to attain an almost Buster Keatonesque deadpan delivery for a beautiful comic effect. The scenes between him and Mrs. Robinson during their first romantic encounter in the hotel room are hilarious, while his portrayal of the pitiable but stubbornly dignified Ratso in Midnight Cowboy is poignant and almost beautiful in his mean and meager attempts at generosity. While reeking of not-so-quiet desperation, Hoffman’s Ratso manages to earn the audience’s respect in spite of the lingering disgust at his lifestyle.
Well-known for being a method actor, Hoffman has gone to extreme lengths to fill the souls of his characters. To convincingly sound like a 121-year-old man in Little Big Man, he spent an hour before shooting screaming at the top of his lungs. To convince the audience his character had not slept for three days in Marathon Man, Hoffman stayed awake for precisely that long.
No matter how he gets there, Dustin Hoffman consistently brings an earnestness and honesty to each of his characters, no matter how vile or mercenary they may appear on the outside. His Carl Bernstein is ruthless while pursuing a source in All the President’s Men, but his zeal is tempered by his mission to discover the truth and to serve the public good. Midnight Cowboy’s Ratso is mean, deceptive, and petty but is a good and dedicated friend to Joe Buck.
While his characters are not always likeable, or even relatable (like Raymond in Rain Man), Hoffman always manages to engage the audience in their inner lives. Sometimes, almost despite ourselves, we like the characters he plays. Dustin Hoffman can be funny, poignant, cunning, or honest to a fault. He is an everyman—and the most unusual of men—on screen. He is one of the best.
Dustin Hoffman’s Ten Best Films
The Graduate: Ben (Dustin Hoffman), a disaffected young man, comes home from college unsure what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He falls into the clutches of Mrs. Robinson, a family friend, who seduces him; Ben, unable to engage with her emotionally, is still unhappy until his parents persuade him to go on a date with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine. After a rough start, they end up having a good time. Dissatisfied with Mrs. Robinson’s aloofness, Ben decides he loves Elaine and travels to Berkeley to win her affections. As the initially alienated and disaffected Ben, Hoffman is perfectly cast. His grimly stubborn conformity perfectly masks his fear and loathing of the future—until he finds love. Notable for Simon & Garfunkel’s extraordinarily soundtrack.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross, William Daniels, and Murray Hamilton. Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. Directed by Mike Nichols.
Tootsie: Michael Dorsey (Hoffman), is a demanding actor cannot find work until he decides to audition as a woman for a lucrative part in a soap opera but finds maintaining the illusion of being a woman onscreen and off to be his most demanding role. During the process of his transformation, he finds himself understanding what it means to be a woman and to—finally—be a real man. In this performance, Hoffman not only transforms himself physically, but his emotional growth from a selfish and self-absorbed artist to a compassionate human being is brilliant in its subtlety. His/her growth is remarkable not only for its quiet nuances but also for its inevitability. Notable for great supporting roles by Terri Garr, Bill Murray. and director Sydney Pollack.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Terri Garr, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, Dabney Coleman, and Geena Davis. Written by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal. Directed by Sydney Pollack.
All the President’s Men: This is the dramatization of Washington Post reporters’ Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) famed investigative coverage of the Watergate scandal that shook the very foundations of the government. Woodward, a young reporter, is assigned to cover the burglary at the Watergate Hotel. He soon uncovers links between the burglars and E. Howard Hunt, a White House operative. Editor Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) assigns Bernstein to work with Woodward, and although they seem like strange bedfellows, they soon develop a good working relationship. Woodward meets with “Deep Throat”, a mysterious government contact that encourages him to follow the money. Eventually, through dogged reporting and courageous investigation, they uncover a trail leading straight to the White House. Hoffman is a completely believable semi-antihero as the aggressive and outspoken Bernstein. The scene where he completely manipulates a source is both harrowing and inspirational to watch. You want him to succeed but dread—unlike Bernstein—what may happen to her if she does talk.
Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Crouse, and Martin Balsam. Written by William Goldman. Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Papillon: Based on a true story, the film follows Henri Charriere (McQueen) a thief who is wrongfully convicted of murder and sent to a horrific penal colony in French Guiana. Nicknamed Papillon because of a butterfly tattoo, Charriere is determined to escape and enlists the services of Dega (Dustin Hoffman) a forger, to help him. The two eventually become friends and engineer an escape that takes them through the jungles, into a leper colony, a native viallage, and is then finally betrayed by a nun. Now an old man and exiled to Devil’s Island with Dega, Papillon ponders one final escape attempt. Notable for Hoffman’s excellent portrayal of the cautious and timid Dega. The chemistry between him and McQueen is palpable.
Starring: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Demain, Anthony Zerbe, Victor Jory, and Don Gordon. Written by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.
Kramer -v- Kramer: This 1979 legal drama was Streep’s breakout role. She plays Joanna Kramer, a woman who suddenly leaves her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) and their young son Billy (Justin Henry). Suddenly confronted with the responsibilities of being a single parent, Ted is overwhelmed, and his work suffers, but eventually he and Billy learn to live together; in fact, the experience strengthens their relationship. But Joanna suddenly reappears, announcing that she will be seeking custody of Billy. An ugly custody battle ensues. In her portrayal of Joanna, Streep once again tiptoes the line of showing Joanna as a heartbroken woman or a heartless bitch. Notable for Hoffman’s performance as the harried—then helicopter—father.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander, Petra King, Howard Duff, and JoBeth Williams. Written and directed by Robert Benton.
Little Big Man: In this epic Western tale told by 121-year-old Jack Crabbe (Hoffman), a white settler who had been kidnapped by a Cheyenne tribe as a young boy, “rescued” by the calvary and sent to live with a reverend and his oversexed wife (Faye Dunaway) and who then bounces back and forth between being a gunslinger, a shopkeeper, returning to the Cheyenne, becoming a drunk and a hermit, marrying a Cheyenne woman, and finally leading General Custer (Richard Mulligan) into the Battle of Little Big Horn. As ponderous and—possibly—high-handed as this premise sounds, this is a touching, funny, and vastly entertaining film pointing out the hypocrisies and barbarity of the white civilization encroaching on the very civilized Cheyenne. As Crabbe, Hoffman depicts a man in every phase, and every emotional peak and valley, of a long and eventful life. His Crabbe is by turns bewildered, enraged, enamored, disgusted, hated, and loved. In the hands of a lesser actor, Crabbe might have turned into a stereotype or caricature, but Hoffman portrays him as a man struggling to control his fate in the face of history.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Chief Dan George, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Richard Mulligan, Jeff Corey, and Jack Bannon. Screenplay by Calder Willingham based on the novel by Thomas Berger. Directed by Arthur Penn.
Lenny: In this searing biopic of pioneering stand-up comic Lenny Bruce (Hoffman), director Bob Fosse provides a stylized portrait of an artist who was years ahead of his time. Flipping between flashbacks and present-day action, the film captures Bruce’s brilliance as well as his self-destructive compulsion to present “obscene” material in the face of social condemnation. His eventual descent from the pinnacle of fame to the dregs of drug addiction and poverty is a modern tragedy. The failure of society to recognize the genius (an old story) that spawned modern comics like Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and Dick Gregory. As Bruce, Hoffman captures the manic onstage creative energy of the comic as well as his uncompromising vision of his art as well as the final desperation of a man sinking into the pit of his own despair.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck, Gary Morton, and Guy Rennie. Screenplay by Julian Barry. Directed by Bob Fosse.
Straw Dogs: In this harrowing psychological thriller, Hoffman plays David Sumner, a meek mathematician who moves with his new wife Amy (Susan George) back near her hometown where the couple encounter one of Amy’s old boyfriends, Charlie Venner (Del Henney) and some work friends of his who resent the fact that Amy married an outsider. They constantly harangue and bully David, finally tricking him into lying in wait for their quarry. With him out of the way, Venner and one of his buddies sexually assault Amy. Later, a young woman is discovered murdered. The villagers, believing that Henry Niles (David Warner) a mentally challenged man, has killed her and run out to take justice into their own hands. Having accidentally hit Niles with his car and given him shelter, David takes a stand and refuses to let the mob take Niles, resulting in a bloody battle. As David, Hoffman credibly portrays a man who—inexplicably—has been pushed too far and finally snaps. Amy’s rape does not put him over the edge, but his willful blindness to him to pick another seemingly insignificant battle that pushes him into extreme violence. Hoffman perfectly embodies Sumner’s internalization of the self-disgust, anger, and loathing which finally erupts into carnage.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, David Warner, Del Henney, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, and Jim Morton. Screenplay by David Zelag Goodman and Sam Peckinpah. Directed by Sam Peckinpah.
Rain Man: In this family drama, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is caught short of money while trying to import gray market Lamborghinis. When he learns his estranged father has died, Charlie goes to settle only to discover he’s only inherited a car. He also discovers he has an older brother Raymond (Hoffman) an autistic who is housed in the mental institution that has received the bulk of the estate. Raymond is a mathematical savant who is inherently bound into daily routines. Charlie kidnaps Raymond in the middle of the night in an attempt to gain control of the estate. Because Raymond will not fly, Charlie is forced to drive cross-country to take care of business. After discovering Raymond has extra counting abilities, the two stop in Las Vegas so Charlie can hopefully recoup the money he owes. Hoffman gives a wonderful performance as Raymond, lending a mostly emotionless character an aura of sympathy affinity; we want to take care of Raymond. Sustaining such a dysfunctional character had to be an incredible challenge, but one Hoffman was obviously up for.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valerie Golino, Jerry Molen, Bonnie Hunt, Barry Levinson, and Ralph Seymour. Written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. Directed bynBarry Levinson.
Midnight Cowboy: In this somewhat harrowing account of life on the mean streets of New York City, Joe Buck (Jon Voigt), a naïve young man from Texas, decides to go to NYC and make his fortune being a professional lady’s man. After a couple disastrous encounters with would-be clients, Joe runs in a street rat named—appropriately enough—Ratso (Hoffman) who initially tries to rip him off. After Joe confronts him, Ratso talks him into letting him arrange dates for him and takes him to his home in a condemned building. In these most unlikely circumstances, their friendship grows while Ratso becomes mortally ill, and Joe decides to help him fulfill his lifelong dream. As Ratso, Hoffman is a desperate and sleazy hustler who, although he is just barely surviving, still entertains grand schemes of fame and fortune—which make him all the more pitiful. For all his rock-bottom nastiness, Hoffman still injects Ratso with enough dignity and humanity to earn our pity—which he would have hated.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voigt, Brenda Vaccaro, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Ruth White, and Jennifer Salt. Screenplay by Waldo Salt. Directed by John Schlesinger.