Remember
Abbie Hoffman? Remember the 60’s marches and demonstrations, the
turbulent era of student protest and government crack down on free
thinkers and their idea of how American democracy should function? Then,
you gotta Steal This Movie. And even if you weren’t alive when
all this happened, you still gotta Steal This Movie.
In a documentary, episodic tone, Steal
This Movie weaves the complex threads of Abbie Hoffman’s life,
from excited early protests and lectures, to marriage, to his pivotal
role in the demonstrations and brutal police crack down that choked the
1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, to his escape underground, to a
paranoid new identity, and final reemergence. Careful attention was paid
to the accuracy of this film tribute. Many of the key people that knew
Abbie were interviewed during production. Crucial participants in Abbie’s
plight, including his wife Anita and attorney Gerry Lefcourt, offered
final approval of the script. The movie faces inevitable dry spells by
following the life of a historical figure, but in its total impact, it
is engaging, entertaining, and thought provoking.
Like most revolutionaries who reached the
ranks of a public enemy, Abbie was as crazy as he was ingenious, and
Vincent D’Onofrio fascinates with the blend of passionate brilliance
and manic drive of Abbie’s highs and the paranoid mood swings of his
lows. Looking back from the comfortable vantage point of the information
age, especially for the younger generation that might have never heard
of Hoffman, it is astounding to watch the courage, dedication, and
pigheaded demand for truth that Hoffman represented along with the
unparalleled contribution he made to America of everyone’s dreams. He
recognized the oppression of our republican system of government while
he challenged the status quo, never giving up even under the heavy
intimidation of an FBI smear campaign that forced him underground.
As much as the movie recreates the social
and political scene of Abbie’s life, it also penetrates into the more
obscure areas of his personality and private life. Janeane Garofalo
plays his wife Anita who illuminates the family tragedies of Abbie’s
heroism. In near insanity, Abbie left his wife and young son America,
who would not know his father for years to come, in order to protect
himself and them from incrimination. His later relationship with Johanna
(Jeanne Tripplehorn) while he maintained bonds with Anita added another
layer of peculiarity to the mix. However, whether portrayed in the dire
grips of paranoia or hypnotic intelligence, Abbie lived for truth, for
change, and for America as it was promised but not delivered.
Steal This Movie
is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and
the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their
government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it
eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after
remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war."
Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of
protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the
Vietnam conflict.
