Great performances, great script

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2006)

From viewing the trailer, I felt some concern that Philip Seymour Hoffman might mimic Capote rather than produce a rounded character. I was wrong. This is a stunning performance, and despite very stiff competition should collect the Academy Award for best actor. Clifton Collins Jr - an actor I was not familiar with - is also extraordinary and very moving as the articulate killer Perry Smith with whom Capote forms an odd bond, a bond which ultimately goes beyond simply using him for what he can get out of him. The script is exemplary, and makes few concessions to the viewer: you're expected to know who William Shawn was and to follow some witty New York cocktail party literary gossip. Futterman makes no bones about the way Capote manipulated, and in some cases blatantly lied to, his subjects. All minor roles are well cast, notably Catherine Keener as Nelle Harper Lee and Chris Cooper as the detective Alvin Dewey. I am inspired to re-read Capote's masterpiece In Cold Blood and also re-view the interesting film of that book.