CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Capote

Director

Bennett Miller

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Truman Capote is an iconoclastic figure of the 20th century not only because of his great artistry but also because of his extravagance. He was peculiar to say the least, speaking with a quirky voice and having clearly effeminate mannerisms, but he was also proud of it, self-styled to the last consequences and convinced that he couldn’t be any different. He was also a master of his trade and an extremely professional man. In being an innovative writer, nobody beat him, to the extent of his being credited as the inventor of the non-fiction novel. This film is the true story of how he achieved such invention, and the result is a non-fiction film told in a fictionalized style with no less shocking results than Capote’s book “In Cold Blood.”

Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), author of such works as Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), somehow suspects he’s entering a self-destructive agenda as he sets to research a recent murder in the state of Kansas. He’s not too clear at first whether he’ll write an article for The New Yorker or something as lengthy as a book. Fate would have it that the case be so interesting as to inspire a book and throw its author into a whirlpool of suffering.

The murderers of the Kansas family are two young men, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino). Intrigued by their modus operandi, Capote gets to know them, and is particularly fascinated by Smith, a bright, lucid, and apparently compassionate man. Furthermore, Capote identifies with him and develops a loving feeling towards the criminal. As he delves deeper into Smith’s psyche, the writer loses focus and begins to care about the men, even finding them proper legal help. At certain point he contradicts his original intentions, distancing himself from the ending of his book, and making his personal life crumble.

Actor Dan Futterman’s breakthrough script, an adaptation of Gerald Clarke’s book, is an outstanding character study, and Hoffman’s larger-than-life performance helps a lot. Capote is portrayed as a man who’s impossible to dislike, fun, deep, bright, constantly awake, happy to be an artist and happy to make people happy; also as a dark figure, obsessive, alcoholic, caring about others to the point of self-infliction. His relationships to longtime partner Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood) and writer and best friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) are threatened by this research that takes years and drains Truman’s energies. Perry Smith’s is a face that’d hunt Capote to his final minute, and it was no accident that it became so intense.

About everything is right in this film. The period piece is perfection, the ambience precise. The performances top-notch, with Kenner and Collins standouts in the support, and people like Chris Cooper lending some extra solidity.

The film works like clockwork without sparing surprises and innovations. Everything from Mychael Danna’s music to Adam Kimmel’s photography to Christopher Tellefsen’s editing to the rest of it, makes the drama flow beautifully. There’s very little to complain about the piece’s and director Miller’s craft, perhaps a few scenes that get tiresome or distance from the truly interesting material, but it’s hard remembering those scarce moments when thinking back about Capote.

A fine story beautifully realized into the big screen, this film is most certainly one of my favorites from 2005, and Hoffman’s without a doubt the finest leading male performance I saw from that year.

“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.”

Gon C Curiel en Twitter | CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Other reviews of Capote (2005): Morris

Review

Capote

Director

Bennett Miller

Year

2005

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

When Truman Capote died I had just started to talk, which means I didn’t live through the peak of his fame. Eventually I heard about him, mainly for being the writer of Breakfast at Tiffany's, but knew nothing about his persona. That’s what’s so great about historical movies: they introduce and re-enact the life of someone that will be introduced (or re-introduced) to hundreds of people who otherwise might have never known too much about the subject. In this specific case, it was well worth it.

The movie chronicles the life of writer/journalist/celebrity Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) from the point in which he decides to write a novel about a couple of guys, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), who murdered a family in Kansas and were then sentenced to death. Truman gets help from his good friend, To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), and receives the support of his partner, writer Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood), and his editor William Shawn (Bob Balaban). The book, In Cold Blood, would eventually become a best-seller and catapult Capote into the stratosphere.

Capote is based on a book by Gerald Clarke and was written for the screen by actor Dan Futterman. It must not have been an easy screenplay to write, since Capote was a man of many layers, and the period of his life that is portrayed was one that defined his sad destiny. Capote, as he got more and more immersed with the killers’ story, was said to have fallen in love with Perry Smith. Suddenly the work he was doing got mixed with personal feelings, which was not a good combination.

This is where the real meat of the story lies. Capote was certainly a very intelligent and literate man, but he was only human. When he met Perry he saw himself reflected in this illiterate, brute of man. “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,” he says. Capote finds Perry’s and Hickock’s story so fascinating that he gets them a lawyer and helps them appeal their sentence. Four years later he finds himself so attached with their plight that he’s become a different man, desperate to finish his book yet without an ending since these guys’ fate had not been decided. When he tells his friend Lee that there’s nothing he could’ve done to ultimately save them, she tells him: “Maybe not, Truman. But the truth is, you didn’t want to.” How much of himself did Truman put into this particular project? There’s a fine line in journalism which should not be crossed, and he incessantly played with it, something that brought him fame and fortune, but not necessarily peace and calm.

The movie keeps its focus on the man himself but gives us a picture of the atmosphere that surrounded him, from the era to the people in his life. He has a beautiful relationship with Lee that comes after years of knowing each other. He can relax with her, and then be the life of a party in his public life. He truly was a complex man, a brilliant writer, a consummated manipulator, one that would do anything to get his way. How careful an examination of a journalist’s life this is, so beautifully written and portrayed. Director Bennett Miller makes the most out of this captivating character study.

Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers the best and most multifaceted performance of his career. It sounds like such a cliché, but he becomes Truman Capote. Not only does he mimic his peculiar way of talking and moving to perfection, but he gets under his skin and seems to truly understand the man and his motivations. I kept watching in awe. He completely disappeared into the role. Nice support is lent by Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr. and Chris Cooper as the detective in charge of the murders’ investigation.

“I have 94 per cent recall of all conversation. I tested it myself.”

CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Other reviews of Capote (2005): Groucho