Dustin Hoffman is one of the most versatile and skilled actors of his generation. Alongside other Hollywood greats who came of age in the 1970s (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss, Sissy Spacek, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Shelley Duvall, Cybill Shepard, Harrison Ford, et al), Hoffman is part of a revolutionary group of performers who flourished during the American new wave. Actors were pushed further, characters were more diverse, the challenge was heightened. Daniel Stephens looks at the great actor’s top 10 performances.

Steven Spielberg returns to the film that made him a star and a billionnaire. Bringing back key character Matt Hooper with Richard Dreyfuss on board to act in the film, Jaws 5 is going to be the biggest hit of summer 2012.

The year is 2020. It is 45 years since ichthyologist Matt Hooper went out onto the ocean with police chief Martin Brody and fisherman Quint to kill the terrifying great white shark terrorising the beach community of Amity Island. He has become the leading figure in marine biology and the study of sharks. He has also become a minor celebrity after his exploits in 1975.

Ratso’s hang-ups, Sumner’s ordeal, Braddock’s sexual desire: The Life and Characters of Dustin Hoffman
Everyone who interviews Dustin Hoffman leaves with the same thoughts on the man: warm, intelligent, and accommodating. His small physical stature – there’s only 5ft 6in of the man – is dismissed by a presence that fills the room. He is a complete part of the Hollywood furniture: iconic and recognisable in both looks and voice. He is Tinseltown gold and a legend of the film industry.
As a child – although I did not know it …

Part of our “Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman” feature
Dir. Bob Fosse; screenplay by Julian Barry; starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Considered by many US-based critics as a film lacking the sort of anti-establishment relish that made its origin of study the darling of counter-culture 1950s and 1960s Americana, “Lenny” plays better in the United Kingdom where mainstream media is more open to the real meaning of the comedian’s ‘blah blah blah’ skit and other obscene eccentricities. Frequently, we see Hollywood actors, musicians, and comic stars appear on talk shows …

Part of the Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman feature
Dir. Alan J. Pakula; screenplay by William Goldman; starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Jason Robards, Ned Beatty
My first cinematic introduction to the Watergate saga arrived in the form a simpleton named Forrest Gump phoning the police after seeing some people burglarising the building across from his hotel. Of course, at the time I was eleven years old and neither understood the reference or had much interest in it. Watching the film now, the moment is another lovely touch in the …

Sam Peckinpah’s notorious Straw Dogs was banned in the UK for many years. Finally released uncut in 2002 audiences could make up there own mind about the film’s hard-hitting and shocking violence that includes a protracted double rape of a young woman. Whatever way you perceive the film it is undoubtedly a thought-provoking and intense piece of work. Daniel Stephens attempts to pick apart the film’s underlying message.