Capote (****)
review by Jon
Waterman
Popular fiction writer Truman Capote is looking for inspiration
for his next piece to be printed in The New Yorker. He finds
it when a Kansas family is brutally murdered in their homes
by two young men. Truman is looking to make the transition
to non-fiction with this captivating source material. As his
investigation goes on, he discovers things are much more complex
than he originally thought. Through his manipulative behavior,
he’s able to gain access to the prisoners and thus give
his story an unprecedented angle. Can he possibly bring a sense
of humanity to the perpetrators of a vicious crime? Does he
really want to? Is that really what he’s doing?
What an incredible movie. In terms of character study, this
has to be the best movie released in years. I’ve always
found Phillip Seymour Hoffman to be a great actor, but he takes
it to another level when portraying Capote. PSH completely
transforms himself and for the first time in a long time I
didn’t feel like I was watching a performance. Capote
is presented as a self-tortured man. The real struggle of the
movie comes not from figuring out to what degree the convicted
men are guilty or not, but rather to what degree Truman is.
We don’t know if his feelings are due to a genuine caring
and possible love for murderer Perry Smith complicated by the
fact that Smith may die or due to him wanting Smith to die
in order to have a strong ending for what he is confident will
be the strongest work he’s ever written. It could very
well be a combination of those two factors as well as others.
Watching Truman work and never knowing his real motivation
is a sight to behold and definitely makes for a rare, masterful
performance.
The other actors do a pretty good job as well, but it’s
very tough to match those high standards. I would say that
the only down spot would be in Clifton Collins Jr.’s
take on Perry Smith. I found him to be a little too conventionally
flawed and a bit too easy to read. But once again, when you
spend the majority of your screen time with the powerhouse,
it’s not always possible to keep up.
Director Bennett Miller does a great job in his fiction debut
does a great job of keeping the atmosphere appropriate and
transitioning smoothly between the interesting social scenes
where life of the party Truman shines a whole different colored
light and the intriguing conversations between Capote and Smith
in an isolated cell. Writer Dan Futterman thankfully lets us
in to various aspects of Capote’s life to allow us the
ability to see a glimpse of his relationships outside of this
story he’s working on and to flesh out our understanding
of him even if it can’t be complete. I found myself completely
captivated from start to finish.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
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