Dustin Hoffman his seventh Academy Award nomination for his performance in "Wag The Dog" (1997), in a role that allowed Hoffman the chance to work with both Robert De Niro and Denis Leary. The movie is a black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson, who also directed Hoffman in "Rain Man" in 1988. The story takes place a few days before a presidential election, where a Washington, D.C. spin doctor (De Niro) distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer (Hoffman) to construct a fake war with Albania. Hoffman, as a caricature of real life
Philip Seymour Hoffman one of the year's biggest blockbusters, "Twister", playing a grubby, hyperactive storm chaser alongside Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. According to a "People" survey of Twitter and Facebook users, "Twister" is the film with which Hoffman is most popularly associated. He then reunited with Anderson for the director's second feature, "Boogie Nights", about the Golden Age of Pornography. The ensemble-piece starred Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds; Hoffman played a boom operator, described by David Fear of "Rolling Stone" as a "complete, unabashed loser", who attempts to seduce Wahlberg's character. Warmly received by critics, the film grew into a