In “The Revisionist,” Alex Vlack’s debut drama strains for its grand aims—until Dustin Hoffman shows up as David, the legendary writer who’s both “a national treasure” and “a royal pain.” The film’s power struggle inside a family biography turns lively only wh
Dustin Hoffman doesn’t so much enter “The Revisionist” as take it over—like the movie finally remembers what it’s supposed to be about.
Alex Vlack’s narrative feature debut. anchored by Hoffman’s presence. is built around a promise the title spells out: rewriting a life. But for long stretches. “The Revisionist” strains to reach its ambitions. letting its characters circle the same emotional target without landing cleanly. Then Hoffman turns up as David—legendary, guarded, and so vividly prickly that the story suddenly feels awake.
David is the kind of figure people talk about in the same breath as a compliment and a warning. In “The Revisionist. ” he’s alternately and accurately described as “a national treasure” and “a royal pain.” His son. Jacob (Tom Sturridge). has spent years trying to write a biography of him. Jacob wants access and answers, but David has no interest in sharing his complicated story—or his many secrets. The frustration sits at the center of Jacob’s life. especially now that Jacob is married to fellow writer Elise (Alison Brie).
For Jacob, the biography isn’t just about career momentum. He hopes it will boost his own work while finally shedding light on David’s tortured life—first as a child, and later as the person David becomes when he’s still refusing to explain himself.
That’s where Elise steps in with an idea. She points out the irony: David dismisses Jacob—who writes ad copy instead of fiction—but David seems to have an entirely different relationship with John (André Holland). an old friend who was published in the New Yorker right out of college. Elise suggests that if John can get David talking, the conversations can be recorded and then passed along to Jacob.
It’s a plan that collapses immediately. As soon as Jacob and the people around him believe they’re shaping the narrative. John secretly calls the New Yorker. promising to write David’s story himself. From there, the film leans into its web of ulterior motives, with subterfuge spreading from character to character.
Holland, especially, hits the mark as a mirror to Jacob. John is selfish and magnetic—everything the insecure Jacob can’t be. Sturridge’s performance. described here as convincingly sullen. carries the weight of someone constantly watching power slip out of his grasp. The story’s emotional tension is clear: Jacob can try to control the biography. but the men around him keep rewriting the rules.
Where “The Revisionist” stumbles is in how it uses Elise. Vlack. who also wrote the script. seems to believe she’s the real center of the film—one of the few choices that doesn’t quite work. Yet she spends most of her time reacting to the men or staring pensively into space. When the film is onscreen with her and Sturridge, the energy drops.
Then Hoffman’s David arrives again, and the atmosphere flips.
Hoffman brings a jolt to the drama—shouting and swearing and drinking and moaning. chewing through scenes with an almost delighted command. David is capricious. dismissive. and even cruel to his son. but Hoffman makes that cruelty feel watchable rather than merely bleak. And the film’s central ache—Jacob’s pain. the kind no one else can even see—lands harder because Hoffman’s David is so thrilling. The movie makes you understand why Jacob suffers in silence: everyone seems happy just to be near this charismatic. combustible character.
In the end, “The Revisionist” keeps circling its question—who gets to tell the story of a legendary writer, and at what cost?—but the answer comes in one form. When Hoffman is on screen, the movie finally finds its pulse.
Dustin Hoffman The Revisionist Alex Vlack Tom Sturridge André Holland Alison Brie Moonlight Sea Wall / A Life New Yorker biography drama