DEATH of A COMMON MAN

To me, Philip Seymour Hoffman represented the common American male - not pretty, overweight, receding hairline, and fashionably unkempt.  He was uncommon in that he was , I believe, the best living actor.

In 'Scent of A Woman'

'The Big Labowski'

'Capote'

'Owning Mahowny'

Hoffman made very role his own.  From teen snitch in 'Scent of A Woman', to a mournful son in 'Savages', to an emotionally conflicted priest in 'Doubt', Hoffman knew - better than any other  actor - how to make each role uniquely his own.

'Charlie Wilson's War'

On screen, he always had his 'A' game on and brought out the best in his fellow actors. A hulking man, ironically, he received the Oscar for Best Actor portraying a very small and effeminate Copote. In that role Hoffman made himself look diminutive with near perfect replication of Capote's squeaky drawl and gestures.

'Doubt'

It is really hard to pick a favorite Hoffman character.  Freddie Miles in  'The Talented Mr. Ripley', Brandt in 'The Big Labowski, or Lancaster Dodd in 'The Master' quickly come to mind.  But my favorite was Dan Mahowny in 'Owning Mahowny' where he plays a compulsive gambler who embezzles funds from the bank where he works to feed his out-of-control addiction.  One may say that 'Owning Mahowny' was a metaphor for Hoffman's personal demons. But regardless of the role, Hoffman was at his best all of the time, he let nothing slide - it was all perfect.

In upcoming 'A Most Perfect Man'

As fans, we will get an opportunity to see Philip Hoffman at work one last time. His last, and yet to be released, movie is 'A Most Perfect Man' .  The film is based on a John le Carre' novel of the same name.  In it, Hoffman portrays Gunther Bachmann, a German intelligence agent and from all of the pre-release buzz it is another stellar performance.   Recounts Anton Corbijn, the film's director, "When Phil and I watched the film together in its early stages, I could not believe that the guy sitting next to me was the same person as the one on screen.  The belief in the reality of his character was total. Despite any issues he was dealing with outside of the film, domestic or otherwise, the performance never suffered."  That was Philip Seymour Hoffman.