‘Hoffa’

This atypical 1992 film biography of the Teamsters’ Jimmy Hoffa is a very impressive piece of work in a number of ways. Dark, sinister and brooding, it uses the convincing acting of Jack Nicholson (pictured) in the title role, Stephen H. Burum’s panoramic cinematography and Danny DeVito’s polished, energetic direction (he also stars as a Hoffa ally) to create a stark, brassy epic of union history. But “ Hoffa” turns out to be as misdirected as it is passionate, a take-it-or-leave-it biography that disdains all the conventions of the form (Cinemax Monday at 10 p.m.).