Reception
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 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." 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."
Read more about this topic: Steal This Movie!
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)