People

By Rebecca Winters

Playing Vito Corleone as Tootsie

The movie image of the Mob boss as a menacing, broad-shouldered man's man takes a hit in the new thriller Confidence, in which DUSTIN HOFFMAN portrays a quirky crime king of questionable sexuality. Hoffman's character, the King, hires a con man played by Ed Burns to perform a complex heist. "[The director, writer and I] tried to figure out how I could achieve this sense of a frightening character," Hoffman says, "and the idea of sexual ambiguity intrigued me." Hoffman also took some inspiration from choreographer Bob Fosse, with whom he worked on 1974's Lenny. In a Confidence scene that Hoffman improvised, the King tries to choreograph the performance of strippers at his nightclub. And throughout the film, Hoffman wears librarian-style eyeglass holders, another Fosse touch. Hoffman's screen time is short but memorable. "I'm just working with people I want to work with and not caring about big parts, little parts," he says. "At a certain point, you get back to the way you started."

TAKING THE AIR OUT

He insists this time it's really, truly the end. After retiring and returning to basketball twice (and leaving baseball once), MICHAEL JORDAN says he played his final NBA game last week in Philadelphia. "It's time to move on," said Jordan, 40. "It's easier to accept because physically I know it and feel it." Though Jordan leaves after a disappointing two seasons with the Washington Wizards, his career accomplishments are staggering, including six championships and five MVP awards with the Chicago Bulls. "I never, never took the game for granted," Jordan said. Fans can say they did the same for him.

Princess of Darkness

Heavy-metal matriarch SHARON OSBOURNE appeared on Celebrity Justice (yes, that's a real TV show) flashing bruises she says she got in a scuffle at an L.A. restaurant with talent agent Renee Tab, 26, over a $15,000 necklace. "My ears hurt. My neck hurts. My teeth have to be redone," Osbourne said. Tab says she won the necklace at a New Year's Eve party Osbourne threw to celebrate renewing her wedding vows with husband Ozzy; Osbourne says Tab crashed the event and should return the gift. Police are investigating the altercation, which took place when the women inadvertently dined at the same boite, and lawyers are duking it out over ownership of the jewels. Whoever scored the centerpiece that night, watch your back.

COMING SOON: TONY 'TOONS

You don't get to be a big-shot lefty world leader without knowing how to talk to the people. Or how to multitask. So in between meeting President Bush, negotiating with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and helping run a war, British Prime Minister TONY BLAIR carved out some quality time for that iconic, yellow-hued American family, the Simpsons. In the episode "The Regina Monologues," slated to air next fall, HOMER and his brood take a holiday to England, rear-end the Queen's car and get travel advice from Blair, who recorded his lines one weekend earlier this month in Britain. According to an adorably phrased statement released by Downing Street, "the PM takes whatever opportunity he can to promote Britain. The script enabled him to bang the drum for British tourism." And it doesn't hurt that he got to toot his own horn while he was at it.