malcolmgsw
The seventies was not a particularly good decade for Peter Sellers.He made one bomb after another.His career lost direction and he lost the magic which propelled him to stardom in the fifties.I saw many of these but thankfully not this one which I have just seen.It really is dire despite the fans of Sellers claiming it is a forgotten masterpiece.Do your self a favour,when it comes on TV again,switch to another channel.
MartinHafer
Hoffman is unusual in that it takes an nontraditional path. Instead of showing the events leading to the conflict, the film begins at the conflict...and then slowly reveals the events leading to this. An unusual choice to say the least. You learn that a lady has been blackmailed by her boss--forcing this engaged woman to spend the week with him in his apartment--though why she agreed and his ultimate goals aren't readily apparent. Sellers' character is NOT just some creepy pervert--there's something more, though what it is is also not readily apparent.As for Sellers, his appearance as "Hoffman" is rather shocking. He appears rather gaunt and pale and this effect is heightened by his extremely subdued performance. He lacks the spark that you might associate with a Sellers performance--though it's all in pursuit of creating his character. His character is not the flamboyant or obvious guy you'd expect from Sellers, though he's not nearly as subdued or flat as Chauncy Gardner from BEING THERE (perhaps my favorite Sellers film). The bottom line is that this film ISN'T a comedy--and such a performance is appropriate in such a case.The central idea of the film, blackmail, makes this a unique but somewhat creepy film--though it could have been worse. The problem is that over time, as you'd completely expect in such a film, she comes to like him and identify with him--and this sort of film MIGHT give the perverts of the world ideas! Hopefully, this was not the case. Oddly, however, despite the basic plot idea being exploitative and creepy, the film manages, by the end, to be rather romantic and sweet! Overall, an interesting little film that might be worth seeing--though it may just give you creepy vibes. Fortunately, despite the premise, there is no rape other non-consensual sex in the film. Worth a look, certainly, but not the sort of film most would expect from a comedian such as Sellers--there is no humor and he doesn't do any of those weird impersonations you might hope to see.
Jeff Stone (straker-1)
Ask people what they remember about Peter Sellers, and if they know him at all they'll talk about the Pink Panther films or The Goon Show. In other words, he's forever labelled as a comic actor. In "Hoffman", Sellers plays against type in a straight dramatic performance - and, to be blunt, he's brilliant. "Hoffman" was ignored at the box office upon its' release in 1970, and never got a proper US release. Even today, with a million films on VHS and DVD, you'll have a hard job finding a copy. Audiences were clearly not prepared to sit through a film in which Peter Sellers didn't play four characters, fly through the air and crash painfully, or mask himself in make-up or funny voices. That "Hoffman" is essentially a filmed stage play with only four characters, and is largely just Sellers and Sinead Cusack talking for two hours, also clearly worked against its' success. This is unfortunate, as here we have what is arguably Sellers' best performance. Sellers essentially plays himself...pale, somewhat gaunt, well-spoken, with an undeniable air of restrained madness about him. Sellers' Benjamin Hoffman is a hollow man, a man who has no existence outside of the things he remembers - and the unattainable image of the woman he adores from afar. Fate plays into Hoffman's hands when he obtains blackmail material on the woman's fiance...his price for his silence: a week alone with her in his flat. Sinead Cusack plays this prisoner of Hoffman's desire brilliantly, alternating between fiery Celtic indignation and a childlike quality. Though she can leave Hoffman's clutches at any time, she can never bring herself to do so...firstly out of fear for her future husband, and later because she finds herself captivated by the strangeness of her urbane blackmailer. Sellers is the very picture of quiet madness in this movie, never raising his voice and never displaying any hint of the obsessions that drive him in an overt manner. Hoffman is not a rapist, nor a maniac, but rather a emotional vampire who draws life from the innocence and youth of his 'guest'. Hoffman takes her to dinner, for walks in the park, to a department store, (in one notable scene, Cusack is pictured standing beneath sides of beef - a metaphor almost too unsubtle to work properly. But it does), he treats her with the utmost respect, he never so much as kisses her. In short, he tries to make her love him even though his every utterance and opinion arouse little but hatred in her. Hoffman is clearly goading her with his studied misogyny and his overbearing attempts to make her feel 'at home', fearing that if he ever became a person to her, or she to him, the spell he has cast would crack. And dreams are all Hoffman has, all he knows. Sellers' wraithlike appearance reinforces the vampiric quality of Hoffman...a man who has had all joy and wonder sucked out of his life by crushing domesticity. The Dracula metaphor is explored further in Hoffman's comments about wanting to consume his captive, and in a scene where she bares his neck to him. In short, "Hoffman" is a neglected gem, one of the few movies in which Sellers could escape his clownish characters and simply be Peter Sellers, actor. Or perhaps, Hoffman IS Sellers...? Jeremy Bulloch, best known as Boba Fett in the Star Wars series, plays the little-seen fiance. Also of note is the rather excellent score, composed by Ron Grainer. Grainer, of course, gave the world the best TV theme tune of all time..."Doctor Who". Matt Munro, who sang the title tune to From Russia With Love, does the honours here also with the melancholy song 'If There Ever Is A Next Time'. No Sellers fan should miss this movie. A masterpiece.
JAGUAR-5
Peter Sellers is in best form as an office worker who has always been obsessed with the office secretary, and just before she gets married he blackmails her to spend a week in his apartment letting her think the worst. But in the meantime, he starts to prove something very different to her about himself.
