December 25, 1992
Hoffa is a 1992 American biographical crime drama film directed by Danny DeVito and written by David Mamet, based on the life of Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. Most of the story is told in flashbacks before ending with Hoffa's mysterious disappearance. The story makes no claim to be historically accurate, and in fact is largely fictional. Jack Nicholson plays Hoffa, and DeVito plays Robert Ciaro, an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over the years. The film features John C. Reilly, Robert Prosky, Kevin Anderson, Armand Assante, and J.T. Walsh in supporting roles. The original music score was composed by David Newman. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released on December 25, 1992.
The film received predominantly mixed reviews and grossed just $29 million against its $35 million budget, with critics being polarized over Nicholson's performance and criticizing the film's story.
Storyline
On July 30, 1975, Jimmy Hoffa and his longtime friend Bobby Ciaro are impatiently waiting in the parking lot of a roadhouse diner. Moving in vignettes from when he was an International Brotherhood of Teamsters union organizer working the various trucking firms and laundries around Detroit, Hoffa's life over the four preceding decades gradually unfolds.
In 1935, Hoffa boards a parked truck where he meets driver Bobby Ciaro. Hoffa pitches the benefits of joining the Teamsters and gives Ciaro a business card, on which he has written: "Give this man whatever he needs". A few days later, Ciaro reports to work to find Hoffa attempting to persuade his fellow drivers to unionize. Hoffa blurts out that he already spoke to Ciaro, getting him fired. He later accosts Hoffa with a knife, but Hoffa's longtime bodyguard Billy Flynn forces him to drop it at gunpoint. Ciaro assists Hoffa and Flynn in the arson of a laundry whose owner refuses to cooperate with the Teamsters. Flynn accidentally sets himself on fire and dies of his injuries. Ciaro then becomes Hoffa's new bodyguard and assistant.
During a Teamsters strike that quickly turns into a street brawl with non-union workers, Hoffa is snatched by men working for Detroit Mafia boss Carl D'Allesandro; the Italian-American Ciaro intercedes and a bargain is struck: D'Allesandro will put his muscle and connections behind the Teamsters in exchange for illegal "loans" from the union's treasury. At a Congressional hearing, Hoffa is questioned by Robert F. Kennedy over allegations that the Teamsters are controlled by organized crime. When Hoffa becomes president of the Teamsters in 1957, Kennedy and Hoffa engage in a loud and bitter feud, especially after John F. Kennedy is elected President in 1960 and Bobby becomes Attorney General.
During a hunting trip, Hoffa and D'Allesandro discuss an embezzlement scheme involving the Teamsters pension fund. Having no paper with them, the plans are sketched on the back of a hunting license. Hoffa is then betrayed by Teamsters official Peter Connelly, who not only testifies at Hoffa's trial for labor racketeering but also provides the prosecution with a crucial piece of evidence: the license. Hoffa surrenders to federal officials and receives a long sentence while Connelly's uncle, Frank Fitzsimmons, assumes control of the Teamsters. Ciaro is also convicted but on lesser charges and quickly obtains early release from prison. D'Allesandro advises him to have the Teamsters endorse Richard M. Nixon for president in 1968 in exchange for Hoffa receiving a presidential pardon.
Hoffa is pardoned by the Nixon administration but learns that, because of a deal struck between the White House and Fitzsimmons, he is forbidden to have any contact with the Teamsters for ten years. Hoffa becomes furious and meets with D'Allesandro, asking him to have Fitzsimmons killed, resulting in a failed attempt to assassinate him with a car bomb. D'Allesandro believes that Hoffa has become "too hot" with his public antics and declines to help him any further. In response, Hoffa has Ciaro deliver a message to D'Allesandro that unless Fitzsimmons is dealt with, Hoffa will go to the press. D'Allesandro replies that he will meet with Hoffa at a nearby diner the next day to work out a plan.
Hoffa and Ciaro spend several hours waiting in the diner's parking lot, but D'Allesandro fails to show up. A union driver has been waiting for hours in the dining room, claiming mechanical problems with his truck. He and Ciaro start talking, and Ciaro lets him take some coffee to Hoffa, who is waiting in the car. The "driver" pulls out a silenced pistol and kills Hoffa and Ciaro. He is immediately driven off in a car that pulls up; at the same time, men emerge from the truck, toss Ciaro's body in Hoffa's car, drive it inside, and leave.
Movie Trailer
- Hoffa (1992) (Trailers)