The first half of the film relies on interviews with
authors and enthusiasts, including writer/director Al Profit himself, who is
identified as “historian.” Putting himself in the film is a major
mistake for Profit. He’s just not someone you believe or trust. He’s certainly
enthusiastic about his subject, but doesn’t come across with any kind of
authority whatsoever. So you feel the whole thing is put together by amateurs.
He should have at least hired a professional narrator to deliver the lines he wrote
for himself. And really a lot of this section of the film is just speculation.
Those interviewed say things like, “Hoffa was most likely involved in car
bombings” and “Supposedly Hoffa asked his new friend Santo Perrone to
hold his goons back.” Profit himself says, “I think Jimmy Hoffa used the
mafia and other organized crime the same way he used everybody else.” Okay,
but why should we care what he thinks? Later he says, “I think the Kennedys
were definitely playing both sides of the fence when it came to organized crime.”
You can’t say you think something definitely happened; it just
doesn’t make sense. Plus, again, this is just speculation, and speculation by
the filmmaker at that (a person who clearly is not a fan of the Kennedys).
Of course, the story itself is fascinating, involving the
mafia and unions and the United States government. It has all the intrigue you
could hope for. But the film has no authority; or at least it feels as if it
doesn’t. It uses stock footage, as well as archival footage. But the archival
footage, for the most part, is not properly identified, so often we’re not sure
just what we’re seeing. A lot of the footage in the first half is without
sound, while those interviewed offer opinions. But there is some footage that
plays with sound, like Bobby Kennedy questioning Hoffa about something he said,
and some footage of Hoffa speaking about the strength of his organization. But
when and where was that footage of Hoffa shot? And for what purpose? The film
mentions the pardon that Richard Nixon gave Hoffa in 1971, and I wish it
investigated that a little more, because that is certainly interesting.
The second half of this documentary, the half dealing
with Hoffa’s disappearance, is so much better than the first half. That is because
it relies more on people who were closer to the story, such as retired FBI
members and a federal prosecutor whose unit was charged with investigating
Hoffa’s disappearance, rather than on people who are simply interested in the
subject. And Profit himself appears less frequently in the second half. Though
he does provide the movie’s final lines: “They don’t make men like Jimmy
Hoffa anymore. At least not in America.” Just what does he mean by that
anyway? What’s interesting about the second half is that it goes through each
of the possible suspects in the case, and also delves into several theories
about what happened. We’re even treated to a bit of audio from an interview Dan
Moldea did with Sal Briguglio and his lawyer Bill Buffalino. Though of course at
the end, we haven’t really learned anything new.
By the way, the cover of the DVD, just under the film’s
title, says, “40th Anniversary Edition.” Just to be clear, this is the
not the fortieth anniversary edition of this film, as that would suggest. Rather,
it’s been forty years since Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance.
Killing Jimmy Hoffa was written and directed by Al
Profit, and was released on DVD on July 21, 2015 through MVD Visual.
No comments:
Post a Comment