Film

Hoffa

Hoffa is a sweaty, grandstanding character study of Jimmy Hoffa the union boss, told through his friendship with Bobby Ciaro. It's *The Godfather* energy applied to American labour politics: power, betrayal, and the cost of ambition. Jack Nicholson chews scenery like it owes him money. Not subtle, but genuinely gripping if you're drawn to stories about men who refuse to stay small.

TMDb rating3.2

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The Godfather1972

The DNA of every crime drama about power and loyalty. Corleone's rise mirrors Hoffa's in structure and stakes—family, betrayal, the machinery grinding on. Essential viewing that makes the Hoffa comparisons land harder.

But It's long, slow, and demands patience. If you want immediate gratification over moral weight, this will test you.

The Godfather poster

GoodFellas1990

Scorsese's kinetic take on organized crime through a foot soldier's perspective. Like Hoffa, it uses narrator intimacy to make you complicit in the rise and fall. The energy is infectious and the structure is nearly flawless.

But Graphic violence and brutality aren't softened or justified. It's exhilarating and repulsive at once, which some find exhausting.

GoodFellas poster

Once Upon a Time in America1984

Sergio Leone's meditation on friendship, power, and the cost of ambition across decades. Like Hoffa, it's about men bound by loyalty in a corrupt system. Deeply melancholic and visually stunning—Leone's final masterpiece.

But It's nearly four hours and deliberately paced. The narrative jumps in time without warning. Requires active attention and patience with silence.

Once Upon a Time in America poster

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The Trial of the Chicago 72020

Both are about American labour figures fighting entrenched power; Chicago 7 shows the legal system as the arena, Hoffa shows corruption as the ground these men walk on.

Aaron Sorkin's courtroom drama about labour activists on trial for conspiracy during the 1968 Democratic Convention. It shares Hoffa's interest in men fighting institutional power, but approaches it as legal theatre rather than character study. Urgent and indignant where Hoffa is sprawling.

But Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue and idealism can feel preachy. If you find his style exhausting, this will test your patience.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 poster
More like this (8)

The Irishman2019

Scorsese returns to the labour and mafia nexus with Robert De Niro as a hitman tangled in Hoffa's world. It's explicitly about Hoffa's disappearance and the men who knew him. A bookend to films like Hoffa—older, grimmer, asking what loyalty actually cost.

But Three and a half hours of slow accumulation. De Niro ages digitally, which some find distracting. It's an autopsy, not a thriller.

The Irishman poster

Donnie Brasco1997

Al Pacino and Johnny Depp in a tight character drama about trust and betrayal inside organized crime. Like Hoffa, it's built on a real friendship that becomes the story's emotional core. Smaller scale but emotionally devastating.

But Claustrophobic and dialogue-heavy. If you need plot momentum over character, you'll find it slow.

Donnie Brasco poster

Serpico1973

Al Pacino as a cop who won't bend to institutional corruption. It shares Hoffa's interest in a man at war with the system itself, and the isolation that comes with principle. Gritty, moral, and surprisingly intimate.

But It's more interested in Serpico's alienation than his victory. There's a sadness to it that some find depressing rather than cathartic.

Serpico poster

Miller's Crossing1990

The Coen Brothers' violent, baroque gangster story built on betrayal and male codes of honour. Like Hoffa, it's about men destroying each other over loyalty and power. Witty and brutal in equal measure.

But Stylized and theatrical in a way that works against immediacy. Some find the Coen Brothers' artifice distancing rather than engaging.

Miller's Crossing poster

The Godfather Part II1974

The sequel to The Godfather, interweaving Vito's rise with Michael's consolidation. It doubles down on ambition, loyalty, and the machinery of power. Few sequels equal their predecessors; this one does.

But At over three hours, it's a commitment. If you haven't seen The Godfather, start there—this won't land the same way.

The Godfather Part II poster

L.A. Confidential1997

A tightly plotted crime drama about corruption in 1950s LA, with men on both sides of the law. Like Hoffa, it's interested in systems of power and the men who navigate them. Gripping, smart, and beautifully shot.

But It's a procedural at heart, which means some character work gets sacrificed for plot. Less philosophical than more visceral entries on this list.

L.A. Confidential poster

F for Fake1973

Hoffa is a biopic built on competing narratives about who Hoffa really was; Welles made a film entirely about how we construct narratives about truth and power.

Orson Welles' essay-film about fakery, authenticity, and the stories we tell about power and identity. It's nothing like Hoffa formally, but it interrogates the same question: how much of what we believe about powerful men is myth versus fact? Playful, disorienting, brilliant.

But It's not a narrative film. It's a meditation disguised as a magic trick. If you need plot and character arcs, this will frustrate you.

F for Fake poster

Raging Bull1980

Both are biopics of real men whose personalities are their tragedy; both ask whether genius and toxicity are inseparable, and whether we should care.

Scorsese's black-and-white portrait of boxer Jake LaMotta—a man destroying everything around him in pursuit of dominance. Like Hoffa, it's a character study of ambition, rage, and self-sabotage. More formally daring than Hoffa, it's genuinely artistic cinema about a small, violent man.

But Black and white, sparse dialogue, repetitive fight sequences. It's an artistic statement first, entertainment second. Some find it punishing rather than rewarding.

Raging Bull poster

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