Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

While the film itself is an unbalanced and tepid depiction of this "revolutionary" anti-war personality, filled with mediocre performances and at times incoherent composition, I found its content to be the most off-putting aspect of this work. As a self-professed (though anarchist-leaning) nihilist, I know unfortunately little about this figure highly relevant to the politics to which I most closely adhere, and the subject of this film hardly merits the accolades attributed to the late, now fabled Mr. Hoffman (unless, of course, this movie provides an accurate presentation of someone by which the Leftist community has been ultimately duped).All the while professing a love of humanity and hatred of the power-mongers that would hold nations (such as Vietnam) in thrall for their own egoistic ends, this man subjected his wife, child, girlfriend (with whom he knew great happiness while the family he abandoned barely scraped by), comrades and politically-sympathetic donors to great hardship, financial and otherwise, to keep him out of prison and away from the misery that the many for which he supposedly fought knew only too well. He and his band of Yippies propelled themselves to the forefront of history and celebrity with seemingly enjoyable, iconoclastic guerilla theatre, and other pranks that served to increase the popularity and egos of the socially conscious participants, but to what end? The Vietnam war raged on amidst their gamboling, and the poor and oppressed continued (and continue) to languish under the same system of capitalism that existed before such bright ideas were engendered in the minds of these fighters. At least, his name will go down in history, as a man that achieved great renown, under the guise of fighting a system in which he ultimately made no dents, while his two mistresses suffered and a group of privileged, Jewish intellectuals thought they were making difference by getting high and getting mad...

Let me start out by saying that I am a huge fan of Abbie Hoffman and have read Steal this Book and Steal this Urine Test. Also am a even bigger Jerry Rubin fan. But his movie was a discusting pile of rubbish that made a very PG version of Abbie Hoffman. The director took no chances into making Abbie Hoffman interesting in this movie. They despicted Stew Albert as a F***ing cartoon chjaractor devoid of intellegence, the man was a proffesor at Berkley for christsakes. Ok they did a horrid casting job for Anita Hoffman, did a Horrible job casting for the Jerry Rubin character. I just guess the movie doesnt fit the news flashes that I have seen of Abbie or the books that he wrote. The movie just didnt fit and upset me. Oh yeah and theat is the absolute worst voice over I have ever heard of Richard Nixon. This is one of the few movies that I have ever rented that I could not sit all the way through because, I have a passion for Abbie Hoffman and his discruntled band of Yippies and this movie was just plain badly done. And it hurt me that now when people see a movie about the yippies they will see a terrible adaptation, and not get a true sense of reality. Instead they get a hollywoodized palanthra of crap.

***Spoilers***The director aimed to make a biopic that wasn't TV-movie like, but, in the end, it became boring and leaving the viewer wanting to know more about Abbie and Anita Hoffman.Using a documentary like style, a reporter tries to find out why Abbie Hoffman is still in hiding. Why try to recreate a documentary when a real one would've been more interesting?The technique of showing old film clips, etc. just didn't work, and, when the famous protests stopped and when Abbie went into hiding, the scenes with him, Johanna, Anita, and America went deep into Lifetime movie territory.Personally, I did not know much about Abbie Hoffman and had not read much about him. I DID know that Nixon and Hoover kept files on '60s protesters and radicals--no real revelation there. But this movie leans so far too the left, I kept wondering if that capitalism and old mores were really that bad. Abbie seemed like such a jerk at times--cheating on Anita and doing drugs. His bad behavior didn't help his cause, which seemed to be the main problem of the '60s: we have a good message of love, peace, and freedom, but let's get stoned first!This movie did leave me wanting to know more. I wanted to know more about Abbie's mental illness and suicide. I also wanted to know more about the other people of the movement like Jerry Rubin and Bobbie Seale and their conflicts with Hoffman.Steal This Movie is not a total waste, though. You have good performances by Garofalo, D'Onofrio, Logue, and Corrigan. Some history lessons are in it. It was just another movie that had great potential, but lost it somehow. Sadly, it was often tiresome to watch at times. It's not a good thing to be checking the clock, waiting for the movie to be over.

I would like to thank all of the people who made this movie. I just finished watching the DVD, and in fact I am still watching the interviews. The story of Abbie Hoffman, which I feel is one of the most important of recent American history, is not one that is told very much any more. The film did an excellent job of getting the historical issues and events right, and D'nofrio played Hoffman to the t. However, I would like to say shame on who ever decided that this film didnt deserve a large release. It is a film that everyone needs to see, and it did not recieve the publicity it deserved. Please go see this movie, buy this movie, and most importantly lets carry on the leggacy of Abbie through our own actions. Maybe this film will imspire you the way that all aspects of Hoffman have inspired me.10/10