25 Best Philip Seymour Hoffman Movies, Ranked

The world lost Philip Seymour Hoffman back in 2014, and it's one passing that still feels hard to wrap one's head around. Rising to prominence with small roles throughout the 1990s, by the start of the 21st century, Hoffman was an in-demand actor who could portray unlikely heroes just as well as he could play deliciously evil villains. He similarly thrived in tiny indie films and huge blockbusters alike; no film he appeared in ever seemed too big or small for him and his chameleonic acting abilities.

Truth be told, even if Philip Seymour Hoffman appeared in a bad movie, he often proved to still be good, and those genuinely great movies he appeared in were made even greater, thanks to his presence. This makes a rundown of his very best movies and performances difficult to do, but it's worthwhile in any event, and does help demonstrate how great he was. The following movies are among the best Hoffman ever appeared in, and take into account both how good the overall film is and how prominently they feature Hoffman.

25 'Charlie Wilson’s War' (2007)

Director: Mike Nichols

A Mike Nichols film that takes a darkly comedic look at a true story, Charlie Wilson’s War is about the titular Texas congressman and how his actions impacted certain historical events in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Tom Hanks stars in the lead role, with a strong supporting cast that includes Hoffman, Julia Roberts, and Amy Adams.

It’s a film that can feel a little scattershot, and perhaps ends up feeling like slightly less than the sum of its parts, though many of those parts are undeniably impressive. It’s particularly worth highlighting when discussing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s body of work, as he stands out as one of the very best parts of Charlie Wilson’s War, and even got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his role; one of four nominations, all of which he received within a span of seven years.

Charlie Wilson's War

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24 'The Ides of March' (2011)

Director: George Clooney

George Clooney has always been most well-recognized for his acting roles, rather than the films he’s directed, though he’s done a surprising number as far as the latter is concerned. Of those, there’s a good argument to be made that The Ides of March is his best to date, which is extra impressive considering he also has a starring role in the film.

Clooney appears alongside Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, with the plot of The Ides of March largely revolving around a young press spokesman finding out firsthand how corrupt politics can get. Given the strength of the overall cast, Hoffman doesn’t stand out here quite as much as usual, but he’s still as reliably great as ever. As for the film itself, it can get a little dry here and there, but the drama at its center is largely compelling, and the performances are all strong.

The Ides of March

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23 'Hard Eight' (1996)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson made six feature films between 1996 and 2012, and only one of those – 2007’s There Will Be Blood – didn’t feature Philip Seymour Hoffman in some capacity. Hard Eight marked Anderson’s feature film debut as director, and it therefore makes sense that this was Hoffman’s first time working with the at-the-time young director.

Hard Eight is arguably the least impressive movie of Paul Thomas Anderson’s, but for a debut made when he was still in his mid-20s, it’s very good, and only feels “weakest” because his later films were so great. It’s also the briefest amount of time Hoffman’s character spends in a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, but he still makes the most of his single scene and helps energize the film as a whole, which is an otherwise solid crime/drama film about an aging gambler.

Hard Eight

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22 'Love Liza' (2002)

Director: Todd Louiso

Philip Seymour Hoffman tended to shine most frequently in supporting roles, especially early in his career. That made it all the more noteworthy when he was given the opportunity to be a film’s main character, as is the case with 2002’s Love Liza, a small-scale character study that’s simultaneously a comedy and drama, depicting a man struggling with grief after his wife’s sudden death.

It’s safe to say his grieving process is particularly strange and harrowing, but Love Liza still tries to find some humor in the darkness of it all. That can make the film one that’s tonally odd, and it probably goes without saying that it’s not going to be the kind of thing for everyone. However, given its overall quality and the fact it contains a strong lead performance from Hoffman, it is worth checking out for any fans of the actor.

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21 'Scent of a Woman' (1992)

Director: Martin Brest

Admittedly, Scent of a Woman is a movie that more or less belongs to Al Pacino, given he hams it up in the leading role and gives a truly bombastic performance; one that finally got him an Oscar win, too. But that doesn’t mean this drama about the unique bond that forms between a blind U.S. Army officer (Pacino) and the student hired to care for him lacks compelling supporting performances.

Scent of a Woman also has one of Hoffman’s earliest roles, here playing a fellow student of Chris O'Donnell’s Charlie, who’s the one hired to look after the retired officer. It wasn’t quite a breakout role for Hoffman, as the next couple of years of his career had him playing similarly small roles, though it was a high-profile and successful movie, so it did contribute somewhat to his overall rise, which was more noticeable by the decade’s end.

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20 'Nobody’s Fool' (1994)

Director: Robert Benton

Speaking of relatively small supporting roles Philip Seymour Hoffman had in the early to mid-1990s: Nobody’s Fool. He still makes enough of an impact here as a police officer to make Nobody’s Fool one of the more underrated films in Hoffman’s body of work, though it’s ultimately a movie that serves as a vehicle for Paul Newman, who gives one of his most memorable performances here.

Newman stars as an aging man who’s still something of a rebel in his small town, getting by the best he can while rather naturally making all sorts of enemies with the people who live around him. It’s a character drama with a good helping of comedy, and is an all-around gentle and entertaining film for those who don’t mind a light-on-narrative movie that’s unafraid to take its time.

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19 'The Boat That Rocked' (2009)

Director: Richard Curtis

When one hears the name Richard Curtis, they’re probably going to think of the sometimes-beloved, sometimes-derided Christmas movie Love Actually first. However, something more deserving of springing to mind most quickly is arguably The Boat That Rocked (sometimes known as Pirate Radio), which Curtis also wrote and directed several years on from Love Actually.

It takes place in the 1960s and captures the era in a way that feels both fun and nostalgic, centering its narrative on a group of radio DJs who want to challenge the status quo set by the British Broadcasting Corporation. It’s loosely inspired by real-life events, and is overall extremely entertaining and a breezy watch, also feeling noteworthy for its remarkable ensemble cast, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Emma Thompson, and Kenneth Branagh, to name just a few.

Pirate Radio

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18 'Mission: Impossible III' (2006)

Director: J.J. Abrams

While few people would label Mission: Impossible III as a true high point of the long-running spy/action movie series, one thing it does arguably have is the best central villain of any Mission: Impossible movie so far. That antagonist’s name is Owen Davian, and he’s played excellently by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who gives a performance as a terrifying arms dealer that’s somehow both quietly menacing and bombastic; never going too far in either direction.

The rest of the movie around Hoffman is still pretty good, with some stylish action sequences and the overall polish one would expect from a big-budget Hollywood action movie. Mission: Impossible III may be overshadowed now by some of the truly excellent entries in the franchise released in its wake, but it’s still well worth a watch, with Philip Seymour Hoffman’s villainous turn being a huge reason the entire film works as well as it does.

Mission: Impossible III

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17 '25th Hour' (2002)

Director: Spike Lee

25th Hour is one of many compelling movies directed by Spike Lee, and one that’s at least subtextually influenced by the September 11 attacks in 2001. The narrative plays out in the aftermath of that event in New York City, though is specifically more of a personal and down-to-earth film, at least as far as the plot goes, following what a convicted drug dealer does during his last day as a free man before his prison sentence starts.

Edward Norton plays this central character and gives one of his best-ever performances, expertly portraying a troubled man who does what he can to redeem himself in the eyes of as many friends, family members, and loved ones as possible before he’s imprisoned. It’s overall very well-acted (Hoffman in particular shining as one of the main character’s friends), and the direction is typically strong, as one would expect from a filmmaker as skilled as Lee.

The 25th Hour

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16 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' (2013)

Director: Francis Lawrence

While the first The Hunger Games movie from 2012 was a pretty good adaptation overall, 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire does feel like the peak of the film series, and itself a surprisingly great sequel to an already good movie. It ups the stakes considerably, sending the victors from the titular games of the first movie into yet another deadly tournament, and one where everything feels more heightened and dangerous than before.

Plenty of characters (too many to list) return from the first movie, yet there’s still room for some new ones, including Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the rather ridiculously named Plutarch Heavensbee, a mysterious authority figure who may also hold revolutionary ideals. He appeared in both Part 1 and 2 of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, too, with these two films being released posthumously and standing as the final releases of his filmography after his death in February 2014.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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15 'The Savages' (2007)

Director: Tamara Jenkins

The Savages does contain some darkly comedic elements, but it’s most prominently a drama, and one concerning family. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney both star as middle-aged siblings, with the main premise of The Savages revolving around how they struggle to care for their elderly father, whose physical and mental health has been rapidly deteriorating for quite some time.

It may not focus on an elderly character principally, but The Savages does still reveal itself as a very honest look at getting old, and all that entails, with the central characters being children of someone who’s struggling with those elderly trials and tribulations. It’s a movie that feels very realistic, owing to the great writing and acting on offer, and though it might not be the easiest film to watch, The Savages is still very much worth seeking out.

The Savages

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14 'Mary and Max' (2009)

Director: Adam Elliot

There might be a prevailing feeling that animated movies are mostly for children, but that’s clearly not a fair stereotype, and films like Mary and Max certainly defy such an idea. This is a rather moving dramedy that just so happens to be told using stop-motion animation, with the titular characters being two individuals who are very different and live on opposite sides of the world, though get to know each other by being pen-pals.

Mary and Max spans over 20 years, with Mary starting the film as a young girl, while Max (voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman) begins the film as a middle-aged man with a number of health problems, all of which seem to worsen as the film progresses. It manages to be both funny and surprisingly sad in equal measure, with some fantastic voicework and distinctive animation ensuring Mary and Max remains memorable.

Mary and Max

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13 'Moneyball' (2011)

Director: Bennett Miller

A sports movie that’s more about the behind-the-scenes aspects of sports than it is about intense matches or an underdog-type story, Moneyball is a surprisingly entertaining and interesting film, even while largely revolving around various dialogue-heavy scenes. It’s about an ambitious general manager in the world of baseball putting a team together based on computer-generated data, and how this unlikely plan ended up changing the whole sport of baseball for good.

Given it’s more about technology and managing a team than it is about the sport of baseball specifically, Moneyball works primarily as an engaging drama more than it does a traditional sports movie about baseball. But the approach works, and the cast is fantastic, with Hoffman (here playing another baseball team manager) being joined by the likes of Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Robin Wright, and Chris Pratt.

Moneyball

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12 'Doubt' (2008)

Director: John Patrick Shanley

Doubt is a film that lives or dies based on the quality of its performances, because the screenplay and direction – while competent – aren’t truly anything to write home about. Yet the premise is admittedly intriguing, focusing on the drama caused by a priest getting accused of abusing a young student, with the performances from a talented cast including Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis ultimately being what makes the film stand out.

The way Doubt was received by the Academy Awards largely backs this up, given all four aforementioned cast members were given Oscar nominations for their roles in this film, with Doubt not receiving a nomination in any other category. To see four great actors all dive into a dramatic and difficult story like this with full confidence does help ensure Doubt can be rather riveting in parts, and Hoffman in particular more than earned his Oscar nomination for his role in the film.

Doubt

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11 'Almost Famous' (2000)

Director: Cameron Crowe

A moving and entertaining coming-of-age film, Almost Famous centers on a teenager who’s given a dream job by Rolling Stone magazine: following a rock band on tour during the early 1970s. Along the way, he learns all about the truth behind the rockstar lifestyle, in the process growing up and starting his transition into adulthood, even though he’s doing so in rather unusual circumstances.

The film and the band at its center may be a fictional one, but Almost Famous does still feel credible and grounded, owing to Cameron Crowe’s direction and screenplay as well as the numerous great performances from its cast. Hoffman’s character, however, is based on a real-life person, Lester Bangs, and Hoffman shines in his few scenes within Almost Famous playing this older journalist who mentors the film’s central character.

Almost Famous

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10 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1999)

Director: Anthony Minghella

The Talented Mr. Ripley is an excellent adaptation of the novel of the same name, which revolves around Tom Ripley and his dangerous infatuation with a wealthy and charismatic man named Dickie Greenleaf. Ripley realizes he’ll stop at nothing to obtain the sort of lifestyle that Greenleaf seems to take for granted, and it’s at that point that The Talented Mr. Ripley really takes off and becomes engrossing.

It's an indisputably great crime movie, and one where the central narrative is thrillingly unpredictable, even for those viewers who feel like they’ve seen it all when it comes to the crime and thriller genres. Hoffman is great here in a supporting role as Freddie Miles, one of many great supporting performances from the tail-end of the 1990s that hinted at his great (and larger) roles to come during the 2000s and 2010s.

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9 'Punch-Drunk Love' (2002)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

The penultimate collaboration between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love is a strange, offbeat, and surprisingly anxiety-filled romantic comedy that’s also a blast to watch, so long as you know roughly what you're in for. It’s also home to what’s easily one of Adam Sandler’s best performances, with the film centering on his troubled character and the way he finds a glimmer of hope in his chaotic life after falling in love.

Punch-Drunk Love is another film of Hoffman’s where his role is relatively minor, all things considered, but he makes the most of every single second he’s on-screen. He plays a sort of antagonist to Sandler’s central anti-hero, hamming it up in the role and being a blast to watch, perhaps even making you wish he was in the film a little bit more.

Punch-Drunk Love

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8 'The Big Lebowski' (1998)

Director: Joel Coen

It’s unfortunate that Philip Seymour Hoffman only ever showed up in a single Coen Brothers film, but at least in this instance, the film was one as great as The Big Lebowski. This thrilling and strange blend of comedy and crime almost feels like a parody of crime/mystery films, following a slacker who gets wrapped up in a very strange series of events, digging himself into deeper trouble with every passing scene.

The Big Lebowski is wild, silly, sometimes confusing, but always a great deal of fun, and it’s overall perfectly cast, thanks to it featuring the likes of Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, and, of course, Philip Seymour Hoffman. If it counts as a neo-noir movie, it’s quite possibly the funniest of all time, and has more than earned its status as a cult classic of the 1990s.

The Big Lebowski

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7 'Happiness' (1998)

Director: Todd Solondz

For as unnerving as Punch-Drunk Love can be, it can’t count itself as the most nerve-wracking comedy Philip Seymour Hoffman ever starred in, simply because Happiness exists. This film follows a large group of characters who are all troubled and/or isolated for various disturbing reasons, with the film overall pulling no punches in discussing – and depicting – a variety of taboo topics through its numerous characters and their strange stories.

Those curious about Happiness do need to know that the film is provocative and intentionally alarming from start to finish, but anyone willing to engage with some disturbing subject matter will be rewarded with great performances and incredibly gutsy filmmaking. It’s almost strange that this movie even exists in the first place, but if certain films comfort or entertain, then it’s only fair that some provoke and trouble, and Happiness is certainly (and intentionally) provocative and troubling.

Happiness

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6 'Capote' (2005)

Director: Bennett Miller

It’s no secret that Oscar voters tend to have a love for biographical movies, and so maybe it’s fitting that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s first Oscar nomination (and only Oscar win) came about from playing the title role in a biopic. That biographical film was Capote, but it’s thankfully a quality one that feels far from Oscar bait, and remains well worth watching today thanks to the interesting figure at its center as well as Hoffman’s dynamite performance.

That figure is Truman Capote, the famed novelist whose process of writing In Cold Blood proves to be the focus of this 2005 movie. Capote serves as an excellent companion piece to the novel (which itself got a gripping film adaptation in 1967), and it’s remarkable just how much Hoffman is able to disappear into the role he plays here, making it easily rank as one of his very best performances.

Capote

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