• In Jack Goes Boating: Hoffman’s 2010 directorial debut, adapted from Robert Glaudini’s play, he plays a painfully shy limo driver with the unlikely dream of working for the MTA. It’s the story of an exceptionally ordinary guy trying to improve himself. Everything about the character and the film exudes the kind of downbeat modesty Hoffman prized. AP
    In Jack Goes Boating: Hoffman’s 2010 directorial debut, adapted from Robert Glaudini’s play, he plays a painfully shy limo driver with the unlikely dream of working for the MTA. It’s the story of an exceptionally ordinary guy trying to improve himself. Everything about the character and the film exudes the kind of downbeat modesty Hoffman prized. AP
  • The Savages: In Tamara Jenkins’ 2007 film, Hoffman and Laura Linney play a brother and sister struggling with adulthood and their father’s decline in old age. It feels like the epitome of a Hoffman film: a mix of comedy and tragedy told with subtlety, bone-dry humor and flashes of grace.
    The Savages: In Tamara Jenkins’ 2007 film, Hoffman and Laura Linney play a brother and sister struggling with adulthood and their father’s decline in old age. It feels like the epitome of a Hoffman film: a mix of comedy and tragedy told with subtlety, bone-dry humor and flashes of grace.
  • Hoffman’s dapper, brash Capote is a master class in how to play an icon. Such roles are so often a collection of accent and manner – mere impression – but Hoffman’s Capote was a full, soulful portrait. AP
    Hoffman’s dapper, brash Capote is a master class in how to play an icon. Such roles are so often a collection of accent and manner – mere impression – but Hoffman’s Capote was a full, soulful portrait. AP
  • In Happiness – Hoffman had dangerousness in him, too. His peeping pervert in Todd Solondz’s 1998 drama was unforgettably daring. It remains one of the creepiest performances in American movies. AP
    In Happiness – Hoffman had dangerousness in him, too. His peeping pervert in Todd Solondz’s 1998 drama was unforgettably daring. It remains one of the creepiest performances in American movies. AP

The National

In pictures: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s top five roles

AP

February 03, 2014

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Stills from Philip Seymour Hoffman’s top movie roles.

Film