Steal This Movie

Provides an untidy and frustrating but never boring look at his life and times.

Feels more like a music video than a serious look back at a time, a place and a very smart, funny and unconventional man.

There might have been a better, more involving method of telling Hoffman's story, but it is expressed with a firm sense of commitment to accuracy and authenticity.

Vincent D'Onofrio does capture Hoffman's charisma and nuttiness - and he's the only reason to resist the temptation to skip this exasperating movie.

Likable but muddled screen biography.

This superficial treatment makes so many dubious decisions - oversimplifying issues, for instance, so there'll be more time for high-flying emotion - that 1960s veterans may be moved to protest rather than praise.

Misshapen and obfuscating biopic.