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.

coneal-1 For a 25+ year old film it ages well. Perhaps more appreciated now than when it was released since Peter Sellers fame had diminished it is easier, I suspect, for the audience to see him as "everyman".I watched this after watching the HBO biography of Peter Sellers (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers). It makes "Hoffman" all the better.I wonder how it was received when it first came out since that was at the beginning of the Women's Liberation Movement. If I were 21 I'd probably see Mr. Hoffman as a dirty old man but being almost 50 my opinion is different. We all know this is a fantasy. Mr. Sellers himself knows this is a fantasy.I found it a moving and well acted drama with a touch of comedy and romance. Rent it if you can find it.

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.

rossnicol If you are a fan of Peter Sellers, and you have not seen this film, then make sure you do so immediately. It is an absolute gem of a movie, with an emotional core rare in film. Barely seen or heard of, it has only been broadcast the once, during a Channel 4 season of Sellers' films in the late nineties, and even then at about two in the morning, which is a scandal. Sellers gives the most interesting performance of his career without his trademark silly voice or make-up and is all the better for it, playing Hoffman as a lonely, shadowy figure, yearning somewhat pathetically for Sinead Cusack's Miss Smith. Part of the film's success is possibly due to the fact that the two main characters spend almost the entire film alone, thus enabling them to build the relationship nicely, changing from seeming lechery on Hoffman's part and terror on Miss Smith's to an emotional bond between them. It keeps you guessing about their relationship right to the end, and Seller's displays real emotional power in the later scenes. A wonderfully melancholic film about unrequited love and a man's fear of time passing as well as a kind of variation on Beauty and the Beast. Highly recommended, with a superb score too. Don't miss it.