Capote

Average customer rating: 4.0

More tears are shed for answered prayers than unanswered ones
Watch "Infamous" instead.
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Outstanding Movie
The entertaining value of analysis and truth

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Capote
Starring: Allie Mickelson , Kelci Stephenson , Philip Seymour Hoffman , Craig Archibald , and Bronwen Coleman
Director: Bennett Miller
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Product Group: DVD
Binding: DVD
ASIN: B000E33VWW
2006-03-21

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Bolstered by an Oscar®-caliber performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role, Capote ranked highly among the best films of 2005. Written by actor/screenwriter Dan Futterman and based on selected chapters from the biography by Gerald Clarke, this mercilessly perceptive drama shows how Truman Capote brought about his own self-destruction in the course of writing <I>In Cold Blood</I>, the "nonfiction novel" that was immediately acclaimed as a literary milestone. After learning of brutal killings in rural Holcomb, Kansas, in November 1959, Capote gained the confidence of captured killers Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) in an effort to tell their story, but he ultimately sacrificed his soul in the process of writing his greatest book. Hoffman transcends mere mimicry to create an utterly authentic, psychologically tormented portrait of an insincere artist who was not above lying and manipulation to get what he needed. Bennett Miller's intimate direction focuses on the consequences of Capote's literary ambition, tempered by an equally fine performance by Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, Capote's friend and the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who served as Capote's quiet voice of conscience. Spanning the seven-year period between the Kansas murders and the publication of In Cold Blood in 1966, Capote reveals the many faces of a writer who grew too close to his subjects, losing his moral compass as they were fitted with a hangman's noose. --Jeff Shannon

Description

In November, 1959, the shocking murder of a smalltown Kansas family captures the imagination of Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), famed author of Breakfast at Tiffany's. With his childhood friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), writer of the soon-to-be published To Kill a Mockingbird, Capote sets out to investigate, winning over the locals despite his flamboyant appearance and style. When he forms a bond with the killers and their execution date nears, the writing of "In Cold Blood," a book that will change the course of American literature, takes a drastic toll on Capote, changing him in ways he never imagined. Stellar performances from Hoffman and Keener, as well as Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation) are why critics are calling Capote a "must-see movie."

Customer Reviews:

More tears are shed for answered prayers than unanswered ones.......2007-06-09

Mid 1950s and Truman Capote was a well known writer in high society New York following the success of his novella Breakfast at Tiffany's. After that, as is well documented, a sighting of a small article in the New York times about a sinister, rural murder in a remote Kansas town led to bizzarre, captivating and emotionally tortuous events that created a masterpiece and ultimately broke the writer. This superlative movie tells that story.

Capote, a man with a fragile ego and a gregarious desire to be entertaining, and be loved, travels to Kansas with his erstwhile friend Harper Lee (soon to have her own literary success with 'To Kill a Mockingbird). A measure of his vanity occurs in a scene on the train when he pays a porter to effusively praise his work in front of Harper. Initially, the locals are suspicious of this small, reedy voiced celebrity author, who claims to want to write an investigative report on the crime: 'it's from Bergadorf' Capote explains when he sees a policeman staring at his lavish scarf. However he ingratiates himself, first with the head investigator, and then the two murderers themselves - especially Perry Smith, who Capote develops a quasi-erotic bond with and discovers he shares a number of traits with his own background: 'I sometimes feel like we grew up in the same house, he went out the back door, while I went out the front,' Capote explains when asked if he has fallen in love with Perry Smith. Describing Smith as a 'goldmine', Capote arranges for a lawyer to defer their sentence so he can visit the men in jail, getting them to relinquish notebooks and reveal their story, piecemeal, so Capote can write what he forsees will be the book of the decade - a completely new genre, the non-fiction novel. Over the next months Capote divides his time between two completely different sides of America: the dark netherworld of lonely Kansas, where the men languish in a grim jail, and the bright lights of Manhattan, where his readings of early drafts of his book - titled 'In Cold Blood' are greeted with standing ovations from the literati. Capote develops a great bond and affinity with Smith, but knows that to publish his masterpiece, he must be executed. Masterfully, and cynically, like the smiler with the knife, he gets Smith to declare his version of the events of the November 1966 murder, while at the same time denying that the title really is 'In Cold Blood' - a title which neatly encapsulates Capote's dilemma, as well as the killers' motivations. As the film develops, the ego and talent - both genius and monstrous - of Capote is revealed. He dangles the promise of further legal help to Smith so he can continue writing the story, but knows all along that this will be ultimately relinquished. He is so wrapped up in his own issues that he cannot bring himself to congratulate Harper Lee on the launch of Mockingbird, and when he faces the harnessed killers about to be executed, he still sees himself as centre stage: 'I can't imagine what you men must think of me' - 'You haven't been foremost in my mind recently' replies Richard Hickcock, Smith's accomplice. Capote pulls it off - the masterpiece gets written, but the price was paid. As the end credits confirm, he was finished - as a writer, as a man. He never completed another book and died of alcohol related ilnesses in 1984.

The supplementary documentary on the DVD reveals Capote to be one of most fascinating American writers of the 20th Century - that rarity, a great artist and a full scale personality. On his deathbed, he declared there is only one TC, there will never be anyone like him again. Indeed. As 'Capote' shows, probably no other writer last century has pushed the limits of morality so far to get what they needed for their art.

Watch "Infamous" instead........2007-06-09

After reading "In Cold Blood" I decided to watch both of the recent films about Truman Capote, beginning with "Infamous" and then watching "Capote". My recommendation to others is to only watch "Infamous". Although it covers very grim subject matter, this movie is very watchable and enjoyable, as opposed to "Capote" which is two hours of artsy misery. Toby Jones really becomes Truman Capote in a way that Phillip Hoffman does not even touch. Jones' Truman draws the viewer in and charms, while Hoffman's performance in "Capote" alienates and repulses to the point that it seems that this actor secretly hates Truman Capote. Also, "Infamous" does a much better job at explaining the story to thise who have not read the book, and giving depth to the other characters than "Capote". Watching "Infamous", the dark parts of the story are thrown into sharper relief by the light and humorous parts, and it cuts precisely to the heart of the matter. Whereas "Capote" just bludgeons the viewer over the head with gritty green lighting, long staring pauses and unrelieved gloom.

True to Tru.......2007-05-17

"Capote"

Outstanding Acting

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

There are few words that can fully describe Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance in "Capote". He had the man down pat; from the walk, the talk, the look and within this he gave the performance of a lifetime. He is the bon vivant who is indulged by friends and lovers; he was connected to the rich and the famous. Suddenly he becomes penetrating as he probes the human condition. He the uses his cynicism to get what he wants and exhibits sincere emotion which he used for his purposes. He is cruel when he feels indignation for the sociopath that murdered the Clutter family and then became his muse. He is ambitious with the goal to do something great and the cost is high. With that, he is still a sympathetic character.
Capote, himself, was a character, and Hoffman develops that for us to see. Opposite Hoffman is Catherine Keener as Nelle (Harper Lee) and she is also perfect. She is warm and caring, perceptive and honest.
Together they are the ideal team. With acting like this, the plot almost seems unnecessary but it too is almost flawless. The cinematography evokes the past in its measured beauty and consistent, confident editing.
Watching "Capote" you are sure that you are watching a precious moment of film history. It is a movie that keeps getting better and better with subsequent viewings.
Those of us that were fortunate to have met Capote sat in awe of Hoffman's performance--it was as if Tru never died. But the movie contains a great deal of truth as it shows the tragedy of a man who discarded his own decency in order to write one of the great American works of literature. As he achieves greatness, he is also damned. Capote' contempt for the death penalty for a man who was abominable stabs at us and shows us that inhumanity is not always physically violent.
"Capote" has great assets--the best performance by an American actor in a very long time and some of the most intelligent dialog in recent years. However the movie is misleading. You would think by the title that it is about the life of the author. It is, rather, about the great novel that he wrote and his transformation from wunderkind and jet-setter to a trend-setting talented writer.
The film itself contains no excitement and the courtroom scenes tend to be quite boring but it does show great thought and intelligence with acting superiority.
The movie opens with a ghastly recreation of the crime that caused Capote to write "In Cold Blood". When the scene shifts to New York City and we see Hoffman for the first time as Capote we feel like we are seeing a ghost. As we watch Hoffman, Capote becomes larger than life. In his flamboyance, he is amazing but as he transitions into an investigative author and we go with him, it is if we are now part of each other.
The Clutter murders were and still are extremely unsettling as is the movie. Hoffman has something of which to be very proud and we have a great American movie.

Outstanding Movie.......2007-05-14

This was a gripping story and revealed so much about the real Capote and the men who committed the crime. Need to watch more than once. Great acting and Philip Seymore Hoffman worthy of the oscar!!

The entertaining value of analysis and truth.......2007-05-13

The life of Truman Capote is amazingly portrayed with accuracy by Philip Seymour Hoffman. He wraps Capote's essence in a well-packaged gift for the audience. The genius of In Cold Blood boosted Capote to infinite fame, but at a price. That price and what leads up to it unfolds creatively, truthfully and dramatically. An eccentric man with an electric presence is surrounded by celebrities, but maintains individuality that stands out to this day. The film grabs an important piece of Capote's career and magnifies it for the viewer. A definite must-see.

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