Hoffa is a 1992 movie based on the life and mysterious death of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa.
Jack Nicholson plays Jimmy Hoffa, with Danny DeVito playing Robert "Bobby" Ciaro as well as directing the movie. The Ciaro character was actually an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over the years. The film also stars John C. Reilly, John P. Ryan and J.T. Walsh.
Plot
Most of the movie is experienced as a series of flashbacks, starting with Hoffa first meeting Ciaro, and ending just before Hoffa's disappearance.
At the beginning of the movie, Ciaro is seen standing in a parking lot of a diner. He gets into the back seat of a car, where Hoffa is seated. The pair are waiting for others to arrive in order to have a meeting. Ciaro asks Hoffa if he wants to go. We then see the first flashback.
Hoffa gets out of his car, and approaches a truck. Inside Ciaro is taking a short break. Hoffa insists that Ciaro give him a ride, while he talks to Ciaro about the benefits of joining the Teamsters. Hoffa gets out at a truck stop, after giving Ciaro his card, which he had wrote "Give this man whatever he needs" on the back. A few days later, Ciaro reports to work to find Hoffa attemtping to organize the workers. When his boss finds that Hoffa rode with him, Ciaro is fired. Ciaro accosts Hoffa, but is convinced by Hoffa associate Billy Flynn at gunpoint not to kill Hoffa. The pair take Ciaro out to firebomb an uncooperative employer. Flynn is badly burned and later dies at the hospital.
The movie shifts back to Hoffa and Ciaro waiting in the car. They talk for a few moments about the old days when the two first met. The movie then shifts back to a Teamsters strike. When the strikers get in a fight with police, Hoffa is taken by a pair of mobsters to meet with the local Mafia boss. Ciaro, who speaks Italian accompanies him. At the meeting, the first alliance between the Teamsters and the mob is formed.
The rest of the movie deals with the rise of Jimmy Hoffa to the Presidency of the Teamsters. The movie deals with Hoffa's legal troubles from use of Teamster funds and loans to mob figures. It eventually deals with Hoffa's conviction, and briefly covers his time in prison. The movie ends by giving one possible explanation of why Hoffa disappeared in the summer of 1975.
Critical Response
Although not particularly well received among film critics, Hoffa earned two Oscar nominations (for Cinematography and Makeup) and a Golden Globe nomination (for Best Actor).
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