It’s easy to forget between the sadness of his untimely passing and the accolades for his “heavier” work that Philip Seymour Hoffman was damn funny in comedic roles. In particular, his scenes in 1998’s The Big Lebowski stand out as masterful comic miniatures. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time in the movie but he wrings maximum hilarity out of his uptight sycophant character, Brandt. And his interactions with Jeff Bridges are pretty much priceless.

Notice how many quirky, funny tics and mannerisms he packs into that 2-minute scene. We’ll put another scene where he introduces The Dude to Bunny Lebowski poolside below the fold because it is definitely NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR6sHfBFhJc

Again, not much dialogue there and yet he makes an indelible impression with that forced laugh and that “Wonderful woman!” bit. There’s not a wrong move in Lebowski — in my estimation, it’s essentially a perfect movie — and Hoffman contributes to that overall mosaic of perfection that the Coen Brothers were able to achieve via brilliant script, precision directing and masterful ensemble performances. He’s like the second baseman on that All-Star team of a cast.

Another comedy that Hoffman shines in, albeit one that will never be mistaken for perfect, is 2004’s Along Came Polly, an above average and actually very funny if conventional Ben Stiller/Jennifer Aniston rom-com that transcends the genre whenever Hoffman’s pathetic and hysterical has-been actor Sandy Lyle shows up on screen. He’s especially hilarious on the basketball court as perhaps the all-time worst player in pick-up roundball history. Let it rain!

Sometimes you gotta laugh to keep from crying. Thanks for the yucks and all the other great work, Phil. RIP & godspeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy1Q1WL57Qo