In 1959, Truman Capote (Best Actor nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman), a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Halcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee (Best Supporting Actress Nominee Catherine Keener), travel to the town to research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, In Cold Blood. To that end, he arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.), a quiet and articulate man with a troubled history. As he works on his book, Capote feels some compassion for Perry which in part prompts him to help the prisoners to some degree. However, that feeling deeply conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce a literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction. Hilarity ensues.
This was a very good movie. It surprised me. Hoffman is brilliant as the flamboyant Capote struggling with his compassion and respect for this intelligent young man and his need for an appropriate ending for his book, the execution of a cold blooded murderer. The scenes with Hoffman and Collins were magnificent.
Trivia: Philip Seymour Hoffman lost 40 pounds for his role. At the age of 13, Truman Capote took an IQ test at his school. His 215 IQ was the highest ever tested in his school.
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2 comments:
I really like Hoffman as an actor. He's strange looking so he's got to get by on talent alone. He's only played those weird supporting roles like in Twister and The Talented Mr. Ripley. I've always seen him as a supporting actor and only once have I seen him star in a movie (though I can't for the life of me remember the name of the movie, wait, I just looked it up and it's Love Liza). Again, like the rest of the nominated movies this year, we haven't gotten them in the theater or video. Though I've seen Crash (nominated this year) which is the only one in video here. I don't think any of the other ones have even come to the theater here (well, at least on base, I guess I could go see them dubbed in Italian if I really wanted to). Have I said that we're out of the loop once it comes to up to date entertainment?
Until today, only Crash was out on DVD, Capote came out today and Good Night, and Good Luck comes out next week
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