STEAL THIS MOVIE Reviewed by Jerry Saravia March 5th, 2001
I do not know much about Abbie Hoffman or his Yippie days back in the counterculture era of the 1960's but I know they must have been far more troubling and chaotic than the simplistic treatment provided in this film. If it were not for two key performances by Vincent D'Onofrio and Janeane Garofalo, I would have dismissed "Steal this Movie" as a foolhardy and empty film biography.
D'Onofrio is Abbie Hoffman, the imaginative, creative political force of the 60's who began as a civil rights activist in the South and worked his way into the anti-war movement, with particular attention paid to the Vietnam War and his staunch defense against it displayed in front of the Washington Monument. He made headlines for conjuring up absurd events such as the levitation of the Pentagon or his throwing dollar bills at New York Stock Exchange workers. It was performance theatre designed to provoke a response in the population about America's capitalist system.
None of this would mean much unless we saw the man behind the imagination. Hoffman robs a bus in ridiculous Western attire and meets Anita (Janeane Garofalo), who comes to his "Free Store" to get back her stolen jacket. She is intrigued and fascinated by him, and they eventually get married and have a son. However, J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon are after Hoffman and invade his privacy with FBI surveillance. It gets so hot that Hoffman leaves his family and goes underground, finally giving an interview in the late 1970's and exhibiting a bipolar disorder. He also meets and falls in love with Johanna Lawrenson (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and Anita eventually grows to accept the double life Abbie has lead.
"Steal This Movie" has a fragmented narrative and visual style, thanks to the tired cliche of the reporter interviewing the subject about his past victories and losses. This cliche began with "Citizen Kane" and has been used in everything from "Lenny" to "Chaplin" and beyond. It may allow for some experimentation with narrative but it can also give the idea that we are merely watching glimpses of the biographical subject without getting too close. That is what happens with "Steal This Movie," which glides from one event to the other giving it a disconnected flow - it is like watching a "Biography" segment complete with badly used, pseudo voice-overs from Nixon and Hoover.
D'Onofrio is a revelation as he gives a beautifully modulated performance of extreme highs and lows, showcasing Hoffman's improvisational delivery in nearly everything he does yet also showing a man living in paranoia and fear about his family, friends and foes and his insular life. Janeane Garofalo also gets a chance to develop an empathetic and compassionate side to Anita, who also has her doubts about Hoffman's other lover and his insularity yet she deeply loves him.
"Steal This Movie" is nothing extraordinary and the film limits Hoffman's struggle and paranoia to that of a mere outcast, a shadow of the man who made people listen to his view on the world. Still, the 60's scene is thrillingly depicted (complete with typical tunes in the soundtrack) and there are shades throughout of Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" in its view of how of the young revolutionaries were not always taken seriously by the conservatives. The only difference is that everyone paid attention to Abbie Hoffman.
E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at jerry@movieluver.com or at Faust667@aol.com
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