Steal This Movie!

{{Infobox film

| name = Steal This Movie!

| image = Steal This Movie.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Robert Greenwald

| producer = {{ubl|Jon Avnet|Ken Christmas|Vincent D'Onofrio}}

| writer = {{ubl|Marty Jezer|Bruce Graham}}

| starring = {{ubl|Vincent D'Onofrio|Janeane Garofalo|Jeanne Tripplehorn|Kevin Corrigan|Donal Logue|Panou}}

| music = Mader

| cinematography = Denis Lenoir

| editing = Kimberly Ray

| studio = {{ubl|Ardent Films|Greenlight Productions|Lakeshore International|Robert Greenwald Productions}}

| distributor = Lions Gate Films

| released = {{Film date|2000|03|04|Santa Barbara|2000|08|18|United States}}

| runtime = 107 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $76,424{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=stealthismovie.htm |title=Steal This Movie (2000)|publisher=Box Office Mojo|access-date=March 9, 2018}}

}}

Steal This Movie! is a 2000 American biographical film directed by Robert Greenwald and written by Bruce Graham, based on the 1976 book To America with Love: Letters From the Underground by Anita and Abbie Hoffman and the 1992 book Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel by Marty Jezer.{{cite news |last1=Holden |first1=Stephen |title=FILM REVIEW; That Was a Heady Time on the Left, Right? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/18/movies/film-review-that-was-a-heady-time-on-the-left-right.html |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=August 18, 2000}} The film follows 1960s radical figure Abbie Hoffman, and stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Janeane Garofalo, with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kevin Pollak.

The film follows Hoffman's (D'Onofrio) relationship with his second wife Anita (Garofalo) and their "awakening" and subsequent conversion to an activist life. The title of the film is a play on Hoffman's 1971 counter-culture guidebook titled Steal This Book.{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Robert |title=Reviews: Steal This Movie |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/steal-this-movie-2000 |website=RobertEbert.com |access-date=16 January 2021 |date=August 25, 2000}}

Steal This Movie! premiered at the 2000 Santa Barbara Film Festival, and also showed at the South by Southwest Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/steal-this-movie-2-1200461345/|title=Steal This Movie!|date=6 March 2000|publisher=Variety|first=Robert|last=Koehler|access-date=6 July 2020}}

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Vincent D'Onofrio as Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo as Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak as Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue as Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan as Jerry Rubin
Alan Van Sprang as David Glenn
Troy Garity as Tom Hayden (father of Troy Garity)
Michael Cera as america Hoffman (age 7)
Ingrid Veninger as Judy Albert
Stephen Marshall as Louis Wertzel
Joyce Gordon as Florence Hoffman
Bernard Kay as John Hoffman
Jean Daigle as Sheriff
Johnie Chase as Josh
Toni Ellwand as Mother

}}

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "D'Onofrio's performance fails to do justice to Hoffman, and the depiction of the 60s also rings false."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/steal_this_movie|title=Steal This Movie (2000) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date=March 9, 2018}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/steal-this-movie|title=Steal This Movie Reviews |publisher=CBS Interactive|work=Metacritic |access-date=March 9, 2018}}

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 2000, america Hoffman, son of Abbie and Anita, filed suit against Lions Gate Films in an attempt to block further distribution of the film, accusing the film-makers 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 film-makers of implying america "may be a homosexual."[https://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2000-09-04#film4 Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - 4 September 2000] Hoffman later dropped the suit and retracted his claims against the film-makers, 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.""Hoffman's Son Settles Movie Suit" - Associated Press, January 9, 2001{{cite web| url=https://megamovies.cc/| title=megamovies.cc }} Wednesday, 28 December 2016