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Rewind: Beyond 'The Graduate'
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 8, 2002
[Photo: Embassy Pictures ]
Hoffman was Benjamin Braddock and Anne Bancroft played Mrs. Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate.
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Dustin Hoffman's career can be measured like that of many actors, through Academy Award-winning performances and nominations. Yet, Hoffman's greatness extends beyond that to memorable performances overlooked by Oscar voters.
In celebrating Hoffman's 65th birthday today, Rewind could focus on his seven Oscar-nominated roles. That would be too easy. We could erase The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Rain Man, Tootsie, Lenny, Wag the Dog and Kramer vs. Kramer from his resume and the remaining works could still qualify Hoffman as one of the most versatile screen actors ever. With them included, he's also one of the best.
Movie fans should never miss a chance to see any of those certified Hoffman triumphs. But we'll dig a little deeper into the actor's filmography. It's still an impressive list, available on home video and occasional cable TV broadcasts:
John and Mary -- Six months after Midnight Cowboy exploded on screen, Hoffman teamed with Mia Farrow for an offbeat love story overshadowed by the other film's awards season push. John and Mary meet in a singles bar, have sex, then spend the next day getting to know each other. A good performance by Hoffman with shades of The Graduate's Benjamin Braddock. Little Big Man -- An Oscar snub for this performance was a crime. Hoffman plays Jack Crabb from adolescence to age 121, an alleged Western hero who lived with Indians, rode with Custer and took gunslinging advice from Wild Bill Hickok. Arthur Penn's movie is always fun, with Vietnam-era satire making it special. Straw Dogs -- Hoffman is superb as a meek American mathematician who moves to the English countryside with his wife (Susan George) and is bullied by the locals. When harassment becomes rape and home invasion, the bookish man's primal side emerges in Sam Peckinpah's nervy drama. Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? -- A neurotic, hippie songwriter (Hoffman) deals with an inability to love, growing old and square, and an unseen tormentor spreading nasty rumors. Director Ulu Grosbard occasionally goes overboard with his film's "heavy meaning" but it's worth a look for Hoffman and a brilliant, Oscar-nominated turn by the underrated actor Barbara Harris. Papillon -- Hoffman teams with Steve McQueen for one of the best prison movies ever, based on the true story of Henri Charriere (McQueen), a petty thief wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to Devil's Island. Hoffman plays his cellmate Louis Dega, a timid schemer sharing Henri's dream of escape. All the President's Men -- The Watergate scandal unfolds through the tenacity of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Hoffman). Nominated for eight Academy Awards and winner of four. Marathon Man -- "Is it safe?" That question posed by a Nazi war criminal (Laurence Olivier) to an unwitting pawn in a diamond heist (Hoffman) is a chilling moment, especially with that dentist drill whining in the background. Straight Time -- This may be Hoffman's best performance that didn't get a whiff of Oscar consideration. He plays Max Dembo, a career criminal who wants to go straight, but a corrupt parole officer (M. Emmet Walsh) won't let him. Hoffman combines his Ratso Rizzo grime with a toughness he rarely displayed to create a portrait of an unrepentant loser.
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