Steal This Movie (2000)
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51% of critics liked it
(43 reviews) -
67% of users liked it
(2,896 ratings)
Steal This Movie! is a dramatic account of the tumultuous life and times of Abbie Hoffman, one of the most visible and influential figures of America's 1960s counter-culture. (Its title was inspired by Hoffman's irreverent "survival guide," Steal This Book.) Hoffman's founding… More Steal This Movie! is a dramatic account of the tumultuous life and times of Abbie Hoffman, one of the most visible and influential figures of America's 1960s counter-culture. (Its title was inspired by Hoffman's irreverent "survival guide," Steal This Book.) Hoffman's founding of the Youth International Party (better known as the "Yippies") and inventive acts of street theater -- including an "exorcism" of the Pentagon and the riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago -- made him a household name and a star of the anti-war movement. They also earned him enemies, and he was eventually arrested for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover cop, a bust that he contended was a set-up meant to discredit him. Rather than face a long prison sentence, Hoffman went underground, leaving behind his wife and children and posing as "Barry Freed," who became a respected environmental activist. In time, Freed acknowledged that he was Hoffman, spent two months in jail, and returned to activism full-time until his 1989 death. Steal This Movie stars Vincent D'Onofrio as Hoffman, Janeane Garofalo as his wife Anita, Kevin Corrigan as Jerry Rubin, Troy Garity as Tom Hayden, and Jeanne Tripplehorn as Joanna Lawrenson, who became romantically involved with Barry Freed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Greenwald
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Mar 4, 2000 Wide
- Studio
- LionsGate Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Lou Lumenick, New York Post
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.
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
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.
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Henry Cabot Beck, Film.com
For those who regarded Hoffman as the Bugs Bunny of radicalized Amerika, he wasn't the person played by Vincent D'Onofrio in Steal This Movie, good intentions notwithstanding.
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J. Hoberman, Village Voice
D'Onofrio's blunderbuss performance obliterates whatever wit and charm Hoffman had.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Information enters the screen from too many directions ...This is distracting at first, but the movie smooths out and finds its rhythm, and the closing passages are quite moving.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Vincent D'Onofrio
as Abbie Hoffman
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Janeane Garofalo
as Anita Hoffman
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Jeanne Tripplehorn
as Johanna Lawrenson
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Kevin Pollak
as Gerry Lefcourt
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Donal Logue
as Stew Albert
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Alan Van Sprang
as David Glenn
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Troy Garity
as Tom Hayden
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Ingrid Veninger
as Judy Albert
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Kevin Corrigan
as Jerry Rubin
