From the conclusion of “An Actor Who Made Unhappiness a Joy to Watch: A. O. Scott on Philip Seymour Hoffman”

He did not care if we liked any of these sad specimens. The point was to make us believe them and to recognize in them — in him — a truth about ourselves that we might otherwise have preferred to avoid. He had a rare ability to illuminate the varieties of human ugliness. No one ever did it so beautifully.