REVIEW: Capote

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

If Bennett Miller's Capote is remembered for one thing, it is going to be because of Philip Seymour Hoffman's breakout performance as Truman Capote. He is absolutely spellbinding as the famous author investigating the Kansas killings that became his seminal book, In Cold Blood. It's an amazing performance of an amazing character. Capote was a Southern, homosexual, egomaniacal, ruthlessly ambitious celebrity author from the upper classes of New York who was also short, fat and talked really funny. It's no wonder why someone would want to make a film about a character as rich as this.

The heart of the film is Capote's relationship with killer Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.). The way Capote seemingly falls in love with the wounded murderer, while at the same time manipulating him to get the necesary details for his book is the best part of the film. Capote's ruthless devotion to his own ambition is breathtaking. (He actually looks forward to the killers being executed so he can have an ending for his story.) Entertainment Weekly's great Owen Gleiberman had the best observation of any I've read about what makes Hoffman's performance so good. "In his final scene with Perry, he's so conflicted that he does something I've never seen on screen: He cries, honestly, and lies at the same time." This is exactly right. Hoffman is a certain Oscar nominee for Best Actor.

The rest of the movie is very good, though not perfect. It's a little slow at parts and the ending is never in doubt. But it is always compelling and you don't need to have read In Cold Blood to see the movie. The book will probably all the more remarkable if you read if after seeing the film.