Since World War II, he's had difficulty holding down a job due to his hot temper and affinity for paint thinner - spiked potions, but the charismatic Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman in a
more subtle, but equally skillful turn) finds him irresistible as a project, a surrogate son — maybe even the shadow self that he normally keeps hidden (Dodd shares Quell's propensity for the occasional splenetic
outburst).