Steal This Movie!
by Melissa B. Cummings

My generation, which has been unfortunately bestowed with the title "Generation X," has often been described as apathetic, as lazy and as "slackers." It may be true, to an extent, that my generation is much more apathetic than others in the past, but that is partly due to the fact that we haven't had any major reason to unite and fight for a common cause. We haven't lived through a Great War or a Great Depression; we haven't had to deal with a presidential assassination or a Watergate. Even when we do attract some attention for causing a commotion, it seems much less noble than those caused in the past -- College kids were arrested outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968 for protesting the Vietnam War; College kids were arrested outside the 2000 convention for rioting at a free rock concert. It just doesn't seem quite as impressive.

In the 1960s, kids really knew how to cause a commotion. Robert Greenwald's new film Steal This Movie! chronicles the life of infamous '60s protester Abbie Hoffman from his beginnings in peaceful protest to his arrest and trial as part of the Chicago Seven and through his life underground.

The excellent Vincent D'Onofrio stars as Hoffman, who turned protesting into an art form.

He set out to shock, to offend, to anger, but it wasn't just superficial. Hoffman and his group believed in something - they believed that the war in Vietnam was wrong and that the United States shouldn't be sending hundreds of its young men thousands of miles away to kill or be killed. Even if you don't believe Hoffman was right, you have to admire the strength of his convictions.

Steal This Movie! does an excellent job not only of portraying Hoffman and his motivations, but giving insight on the others involved in his plans, especially his first wife, Anita, portrayed spectacularly by Janeane Garofalo. 

Garofalo shows that she can be more than just the sarcastic sidekick in a film. She plays the long-suffering Anita with real emotion and honesty.

You really feel for the woman who was forced to stand strong as her husband left her and their son, for their own protection, and was then tortured with the knowledge that her husband was making a new life with someone else. On top of all that, she was hounded constantly by the FBI and the press for information on her husband. It was a difficult life she had to lead, and Steal This Movie! is as much Anita's story as it is Abbie's. The film also stars Jeanne Tripplehorn as Hoffman's second wife, Johanna, and Kevin Pollak as his lawyer Gerry Lefcourt, who did whatever he could to keep Hoffman out of jail.

Perhaps my generation should take its cue from Steal This Movie! If we're going to make a difference in society, we need
to get involved. More importantly, we need to believe in something. Abbie Hoffman and his generation believed in something, and they made sure their voices were heard. There may not be a Vietnam War going on, but there are still plenty of causes that need attention. No one is completely satisfied with the way the world is, but it won't change without action.

CineScene, 2000