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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • German: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Portuguese: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
    French, Spanish, German, Greek, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, English - Hearing Impaired, Turkish, Croatian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German - Hearing Impaired, Bulgarian, French - Hearing Impaired, Spanish - Hearing Impaired, Commentary - Finnish
  Extras
    Hoffa
    20th Century Fox/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 134 mins . M15+ . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    Hoffa is interesting enough, in its study of four key layers of American society -- organised labour, organised crime, capitalists and politicians.

    As in Australia, the line between the labour and crime had become blurred in some areas. In Melbourne, the waterfront unions became a front for major crime cartels. In America, Jimmy Hoffa led America's biggest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union closely associated with the Mafia and tainted with financial corruption.

    In 1975 Hoffa was murdered by the Teamsters. His body was never found. Ironically, many believe that Hoffa, while using Mafia connections to strengthen the Teamsters, held the Teamster's interests foremost. It was subsequent Teamster leaders who gave full latitude to the criminal connections.

    The movie. made from a David Mamet script, is well filmed, and the key actors -- Armand Assante as Mafia figure Carol D'Allesandro, Danny DeVito as Hoffa's confidante and assistant Bobby Ciaro and Jack Nicholson as Hoffa -- are convincing in their roles, even though Jack's prosthetic makeup is just a tad obvious. An actor like Jack Nicholson doesn't need such heavy-handed facial manipulation.

    As director, Danny DeVito, an actor and producer for whom I have huge admiration, doesn't seem to quite know whether Hoffa is on the side of the angels, or whether he is the opportunistic, greedy manipulative figure of legend. There's a lot of ambiguity here, and the storytelling, which relies heavily on flashbacks, is at times pretty incoherent.

    The film relies heavily on our knowledge of Hoffa and his history. And while that might be ok in America, that's not so here. And hence the question -- where are the historical extras to set this drama in proper perspective? Nowhere, that's where.

      Video
      Audio
      Extras
    Contract

    The anamorphic widescreen transfer is in excellent shape, with fine tonal qualities and contrasts, even in the many night-time scenes. The 5.1 soundtrack isn't called on to deliver any special effects but is serviceable all the time, and dialogue is especially clear.

    As for extras -- well, the Region One edition is packed with them. Here, straight from the Amazon.com website, is the list of them.

    # Commentary by director/actor Danny DeVito # Excised scenes with introduction by Danny DeVito # Historical news coverage of Hoffa/Kennedy hearings # Personal anecdotes from members of the Teamster's Union # Special shots breakdown # Eight storyboard sequences # DeVito's 11 1/4 - on-set home movies # Conversation after the first script read-through with production stills # Costume drawings & poster galleries # Shooting script # Siskel & Ebert review # New York Times review # Hoffa reading list

    In their wisdom, the local 20th Century Fox distributors have decided to give us, who need them most, no Extras at all.

    So rent if you must see the movie. If you want to buy it, you know what you have to do.....


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  •   And I quote...
    "Interesting enough movie -- but where are the extras?"
    - Anthony Clarke
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