Nicholson's Hoffa

Hoffa

I'm not sure  why I failed to see "Hoffa" when it was released in 1992, but I didn't.  Maybe because I always despised Hoffa and his gangster Teamsters. I didn't see it for another ten years when I finally caught it on HBO.  I was stunned .  I thought then, and still do, that it is one of the best bio-flicks I've ever seen.  Danny De Vito's direction, and acting, are faultless, IMO. The David Mamet screenplay, masterful.    I like Jack Nicholson, but face it, He normally plays his puckish self.  In Hoffa, however, he was Jimmy Hoffa, in the same manner that George C. Scott was George S. Patton.  Nicholson's best acting performance, as far as I'm concerned.  It was on again last night,  on the Fox Movie Channel, and I could not turn it off.   I was surprised that the extremely gamy language was allowed to air unbleeped.  I mean, we're talking a plethora of MF's, CS's, and Kennedy's.  Speaking of which, here's a nice scene of Hoffa's appearance before the 1957 Senate "Rackets Committee," with lead counsel Bobby Kennedy. Incredibly, Nicholson and DeVito were nominated for acting and directing Razzies (worst performance) for Hoffa.  I don't think they're Republicans, are they?