Movie Review 2: Capote

By Ron Wilkinson Sep 30, 2005, 10:16 GMT

In 1959 the celebrated literary figure Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), stunned by the brutal slayings of the Clutter family, sets out for Holcomb, Kansas accompanied by his friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) author of ³To Kill a Mockingbird,² to do investigative stories for The New Yorker.   Capote delves into the isolated small town and soon personally becomes entangled in the life of Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), one of ...more

Between 1959 and 1965 Truman Capote wrote a “non-fiction novel” that was to change the landscape of story telling forever.  That novel, “In Cold Blood” was preceded by Capote’s hugely successful “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” which rocketed Audrey Hepburn to fame in America and Truman Capote into posh parlors of literary society around the world.  After the six years he spent on “Cold Blood,” he would never publish another complete work.  It simply wore him out.  He died of alcoholism related causes in 1984, a pariah amongst the fashionable society that once flocked to his door.

“Capote” is the story of the inspiration, research, writing and ultimate heartbreak of his watershed novel.  Shot in such dark tones of grey that it is hard to tell the color scenes from the black and white, the film has a slow and steady, if not downright somber tone.  The lilting lines and slow, practiced Southern phrasing of lead characters Capote and Lee make this a gentle film, easy to watch but without an edge or a hook.  The actual crime takes place in the winter and the scenes are prairie snow, jagged leafless limbs perched with anxious, unhappy starlings and dark interior shots that feel like they were taken in a mortuary (which the first were).  The steady cam is rock steady and every shot is a portrait.  Not even an occasional swivel throughout the entire film until the final confrontation in Perry Smith’s jail cell.  Here the movement of the hand-held telegraphs the near nervous breakdown that Capote experienced when he faced the condemned and hopeless loser that he had befriended only to write a story.

The happiest audiences will be those who come to see Hoffman or to hear an insider’s version of the first non-fiction novel.  The film adds little to the novel and does little to explain the way in which Capote’s recounting of the alienation and disconnection of two murderers made people across America take another look at themselves.  The worst part of the two killers was that they were so close to being normal; so close to spending their time watching TV instead of acting out their story.  The story of Truman’s life at this time is both exhilarating and demeaning.  It is the story of an ambitious man that comes very close to selling his soul to publish the story that becomes his obsession.  It is a labor that would leave all the rest behind in the author’s life; a novel that would leave him changed forever.

Director Bennett Miller has only one significant credit previous to this film and that is the documentary “The Cruise” about NYC tour guide Timothy “Speed” Levitch.  He is a longtime friend of screenwriter Dan Futterman and both have known Hoffman since 1984 when they met at a summer theatre program.  Although they obviously work together well, there is no particular edge to the material they have produced in this film.  It is a touching story, as real as the original “In Cold blood” but lacks the punch that propelled the original into the hearts and souls of America.  If tears are shed, it is strictly due to Hoffman.

Catherine Keener does some very good work in the role of Nelle Harper Lee, Capote’s childhood friend.  They grew up together in Alabama and were close working associates on the NYC literary scene when she wrote the smash hit “To Kill a Mocking Bird.”  After Capote finished “Cold Blood” he alienated even Lee, probably his oldest friend, and she too abandoned him for the remaining 15 years of his life.  Keener was nominated for many awards, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in “Being John Malkovich.”

In playing Capote, Hoffman is so sincere that viewers will really want to believe that he is acting like Capote, which is doubtful.  In spite of trying to be as flamboyant and flippant as possible, he doesn’t pull it off.  He is too sincere for the part and can’t shake it for this film.  Having said that, this film will be a treat for his fans because he is in nearly every scene, although acting like an alcohol-comatose Capote in some of them.  This film is a must-see for Hoffman fans because he is so much a part of the film, and a must-see for those who loved “In Cold Blood” for the inside story of its writing.

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