Compelling Capote

Capote
--film review--

At the center of director Bennett Miller’s bleak masterpiece “Capote” is the superb Philip Seymour Hoffman as notorious author Truman Capote.

While Hoffman is generally recognized as a highbrow character actor, he makes the role of Capote nothing less than a star-making performance. The film centers on Capote embarking on a journey to rural Kansas in order to document the brutal murders of the Clutter Family.

What begins as an article dealing with the town’s response to the murders becomes one of the greatest American novels ever written.

“In Cold Blood” is said to have sparked the style of non-fiction novels. However, the stories and relationships behind the novel prove to be more compelling than the novel itself.

Miller and cinematographer Adam Kimmel create a nicotine- and liquor-stained post-prohibition world of which Capote stumbles in and out. Hoffman plays the lead character with his nose in the air. He struts through the austere town of Hokum, Kan. making sure everyone knows his scarf is genuine Bergdorf Goodman.

With his effete voice and petite manner, townspeople are put off. The locals seem to confuse his delicate way with an unprofessional demeanor. Catherine Keener, the beautiful star of the surprise hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” looks drab and dreary as the well-respected Harper Lee. Following Capote, she provides an anchor of realism serving to offset his flamboyancy.

Capote and Lee work their way in and out of the local’s lives, stopping at nothing to get the leads they need.

As the film progresses, the story begins to highlight the eccentric relationship between Capote and accused killer Perry Smith.

Clifton Collins, Jr. plays Smith with a muted brilliance. Capote works a story out of the murderer through lies and betrayals. In the end, it’s hard to tell whether they were ever friends or merely a plot device.

At times, the similarities between Capote and Smith are astounding. “It’s as if Perry and I grew up in the same house. And one day he went out the back door and I went out the front,” Capote said in the movie.

Ultimately, the intent and quiet grandeur of the film would be lost without Hoffman’s performance. Not only has he captured Capote’s essence from an exterior point of view, but he speaks and breathes Capote as well. This role is destined to earn Hoffman an Academy Award nomination, and a shot at a win.

For those that haven’t read Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” the film serves as a great introduction to the material. If you have read the novel, the film weaves an intriguing back-story.

Regardless, “Capote” should not be missed.