Steal This Movie!

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Steal This Movie!
Directed by	Robert Greenwald
Produced by	Jon Avnet Ken Christmas Vincent D'Onofrio
Written by	Marty Jezer Bruce Graham
Starring	Vincent D'Onofrio Janeane Garofalo Jeanne Tripplehorn Kevin Corrigan Donal Logue Panou
Music by	Mader
Cinematography	Denis Lenoir
Editing by	Kimberly Ray
Release date(s)	2000
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Not to be confused with Steal This Film.

Steal This Movie (2000) is an American biographical film of 1960s radical figure Abbie Hoffman. It was directed by Robert Greenwald and the screenplay was written by Bruce Graham. It is based on a number of books, including To America with Love: Letters From the Underground by Anita and Abbie Hoffman and Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel by Marty Jezer.

The film follows Abbie Hoffman's (Vincent D'Onofrio) relationship with his second wife Anita (Janeane Garofalo) and their 'awakening' and subsequent conversion to an activist life. The title of the film is a play on Hoffman's 1970 counter-culture guidebook titled Steal This Book.

[edit] Criticism and Response

Some criticism of the film is that it is hagiographic of Abbie Hoffman and fails to give proper credit to other activists of the era like Paul Krassner, who co-founded the Yippies with Hoffman and his wife. Other critics disliked the film’s editing, which frequently relied upon the use of documentary footage, voiceovers, and subtitles to help advance the plot. However, nearly all film reviewers agreed that the strong acting performance of Vincent D'Onofrio as Hoffman overcame the film’s otherwise minor flaws and modest budget.

In September of 2000 america Hoffman, son of Abbie and Anita, filed suit against Lion's Gate Films in an attempt to block further distribution of the film, accusing the filmmakers of invasion of privacy and presenting an "unauthorized, false and uncomplimentary portrayal" of him as a child. In the suit, america protested his portrayal in the film as "a wimpy, quiet, sulking and effeminate 'mama's boy,'" and accused filmmakers of implying america "may be a homosexual." ^[1] america later dropped the suit and retracted his claims against the filmmakers, stating "I understand that the filmmaker's characterization of me and my relationship to my father was made in good faith and with honorable intentions." ^[2]