Hoffa ambitious "Hoffa", Nicholson plays the Detroit street fighter who rose from the ranks of trucker and labor organizer to build the Teamsters into the nation's most powerful union. The boldness of director Danny DeVito's violent epic is matched by Nicholson's astonishing physical and vocal transformation into Jimmy Hoffa. The changeover might constrict another actor. Not Nicholson." Conversely, Alex von Tunzelmann of "The Guardian" gave the film a grade of C–, saying: "The film attempts a cautious middle route between celebrating Hoffa as a working-class hero and condemning him as a gangster. But despite a watchable performance from Nicholson, after more
Jimmy Hoffa arrived at the scene. State police were brought in and the FBI was alerted. At suppertime, Hoffa's son, James P. Hoffa, filed a missing persons report. Years of extensive investigation, involving numerous law enforcement agencies including the FBI, came to no definite conclusion. Giacalone and Provenzano, who denied having scheduled a meeting with Hoffa, were found not to have been near the restaurant that afternoon. Hoffa was declared legally dead on July 30, 1982. The case continues to be the subject of rumor and speculation. Hoffa's wife, Josephine, died in 1980. According to her children, she died of the grief