nice see comedy grown ups masterfully structured aaron sorkin via mike nicholss mastery mr nichols mastery present characters shocking truth sad riveting richard burton elizabeth taylor whos afraid virginia woolf sad riveting julia roberts clive owen jude law natalie portman closer charlie wilsons war shocking truth outside characters sad riveting tom hanks julia roberts philip seymour hoffman amy adams service something else personal point hanks bury brilliance single malts julia roberts throws parties introduces characters blatant straightforwardness amy adams witnesses exist character witnessing insurmountable task miss adams manages surmount beautifully philip seymour hoffmans gus t however monopolized attention character may first first way hoffman presented us someone survives disregard hes treated absolute conviction hes smarter put together hoffman superb pacing tale helps enormously fall myriad useless questions sharp short smart sad comedy last time able say that