Top Fives: Phillip Seymour Hoffman Movies (you may not have seen)

In response to last weeks list I thought I'd compile another one on Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This time trying to select his lesser known roles that really deserve to be seen.

It's difficult to know what people haven't seen. That's tough aspect number 1, tough aspect number 2 is narrowing down his awesome performances. The man really is that talented.

I have left off a few that may or may not be that obvious; Savages was thoroughly depressing for me and Sydney/Hard Eight because he's barely in it, but that doesn't mean that Paul Thomas Anderson's debut isn't worth viewing.

1. Happiness


Todd Solondz tends to divide opinion but this powerful film about the underside of suburban life features strong performances all round and an unflinching look at controversial material.

2. Love Liza


Philip Seymour Hoffman as a desperate man coping with the death of his wife by slowly killing himself by sniffing glue. A role made for him and the pairing with Kathy Bates as his mother-in-law makes interesting viewing.

3. Punch-Drunk Love


Possibly Paul Thomas Anderson's least known movie and certainly Adam Sandler's best performance. A slightly surreal romance opposite Emily Watson with Hoffman adding his weight to the main undercard. Up until There Will Be Blood this was my favourite movie from PTA.

4. Jack Goes Boating


Hoffman starring in his own directorial debut, a role that seems completely written for him and his usual socially awkward performances. This was originally a play featuring Hoffman also. Just to demonstrate his immense and diverse talent.

5. Synecdoche, New York


Possibly the most obvious choice on the list what with it being the directorial debut of indie superstar screenwriter Charlie Kaufman but Hoffman stars and if you haven't seen it yet those two facts alone make it must watch in my eyes.

Bottom Fives: Phillip Seymour Hoffman Movies

As I had so much fun with last weeks list I thought I'd go again. This time Pig Vomit's partner in talented yet ugly acting circles, Mr Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Everyone who cares about great acting loves PSH, his Oscar acceptance speech is one of my favourites and really says a lot about the quality of the man in addition to his acting. But even great men turn up in cinematic atrocities from time to time.

Or so I thought. This was really quite a difficult bottom five. Much more so than last weeks Paul Giamatti post.

1. Patch Adams


I shall bow to the superior wording of Roger Ebert on this one: "This movie is shameless. It's not merely a tearjerker. It extracts tears individually by liposuction, without anesthesia." On top of the obvious attempts to tug at the housewives heartstrings, I was really quite bored when I saw this one.

2. Along Came Polly


Salon.com used the line "for everyone who's been waiting for a love story between an anal retentive and a flake," which is perfect but aside from the terrible humour of yet another Aniston movie the acting from Stiller, Aniston (obviously) and sadly Hoffman is mediocre at best. Perhaps Hoffman's worst performance.

3. Flawless


A Joel Schumacher film. Pretty much tells you everything you need to know on this film. Even De Niro's most hardcore fans couldn't possibly defend the movie. You can see why Hoffman would have jumped at the role of a drag queen, it's one of those that real actors love but it's a shame he was swimming against a tide of awful.

4. Twister


I'm starting to clutch at straws here, I quite enjoyed this movie and so did a lot of reviewers. It's nothing special, it's not amazing AND most importantly it stars the indefensible over actor Bill Paxton BUT it's not on a par with Big Momma's House in terms of terribleness.

5. Red Dragon


This one really is an OK film, it's not great but it's OK. As a more faithful adaptation than the better Manhunter it's nice enough and Hoffman is good enough in it but really who would watch this more than once?

Clearly Hoffman has a near immaculate decision making process, only making the wrong choices rarely and in the case of Flawless he wasn't the star he is now. Agree? Disagree? Leave some blah below.