Hoffman *** (1970, Peter Sellers, Sinéad Cusack, Jeremy Bulloch) – Classic Movie Review 8548

Director Alvin Rakoff’s 1970 British comedy Hoffman stars Peter Sellers as lonely office worker Benjamin Hoffman (Sellers), who is obsessed with the about-to-wed typist Janet Smith (Sinéad Cusack) and blackmails her into spending the week with him at his flat as his lover.

Hoffman is a pretty strange and fairly amusing comedy with an attractive hint of darkness.

But, despite the strong acting and wit in the script by Ernest Gebler, it eventually becomes tedious and wears out its welcome at an over-long 115 minutes. Nevertheless, Sellers fans will not feel cheated because he gives his ingratiating turns a thorough workout.

Gebler based the script on his own novel and TV play.

Matt Munro sings ‘If Ever There Was a Next Time’.

Also in the cast are Jeremy Bulloch, Ruth Dunning, David Lodge, Kay Hall, Elizabeth Bailey, Cindy Burrows, Karen Murtagh and Ron Taylor.

Sellers disliked the film, bizarrely feeling that Hoffman was too close to his own personality. Even more bizarrely, he tried to buy the negative to re-shoot the film, but failed and went into a depression.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8548

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