 Later in 2002 , Hoffman starred opposite Adam Sandler and Emily Watson in Anderson 's critically acclaimed fourth picture , the surrealist romantic comedy @-@ drama Punch @-@ Drunk Love ( 2002 ) , where he played an illegal phone @-@ sex " supervisor " . Drew Hunt of the Chicago Reader saw the performance as a fine example of Hoffman 's " knack for turning small roles into seminal performances " , and praised the actor 's comedic ability . In a very different film , Hoffman was next seen with Anthony Hopkins in the high @-@ budget thriller Red Dragon , a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs , portraying the meddlesome tabloid journalist Freddy Lounds . His fourth appearance of 2002 came in Spike Lee 's drama 25th Hour , playing an English teacher who makes a devastating drunken mistake . Both Lee and the film 's lead Edward Norton were thrilled to work with Hoffman , and Lee confessed that he had long wanted to do a picture with the actor but had waited until he found the right role . Hoffman considered his character , Jakob , to be one of the most reticent characters he had ever played , a straight @-@ laced " corduroy @-@ pants @-@ wearing kind of guy . " Roger Ebert promoted 25th Hour to one of his " Great Movies " in 2009 , and along with A. O. Scott , considered it to be one of the best films of the 2000s . 
