Screening Room: Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

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“Be honest, and unmerciful.”

Philip Seymour Hoffman was a bandit of an actor. FromThe Talented Mr. Ripley toCharlie Wilson’s Warand The Ides of March, he was rarely better than when committing full-scale larceny on the screen—walking away with an entire film while leaving A-list actors stumbling about in his wake.

With such a rich body of work cut so horrendously short, you would think it would be hard to zoom in on one particular performance that summed up his appeal. But it’s not. Almost ever...