The events that left Capote a shattered man

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2005)

Unlike other efforts that described themselves as being biographies I think a better way of looking at this film would be as a haunting remembrance and a synopses of events that would forever change a man. This certainly isn't about the life of someone but instead is about the most important time in the life of one of the most talented writers this country ever produced. Story starts out in 1959 where writer Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) notices a news article about a Kansas family being murdered and persuades the editor of The New Yorker to allow him to do a series of articles on the effects it has on the residents. Truman brings his childhood friend and fellow writer Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) to Kansas with him to help out with the research and while they interview some of the locals the police arrest the two killers.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Perry Smith (Clifton James Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) eventually confess to the murders and it's at this point when Truman decides that he will write his next book on the events. The local officials allow Truman to visit both of these men but it's Perry that he becomes friendliest with and eventually it grows to be an attraction. Truman does use his charm to get vital information for his book but eventually it dawns on him that after 6 years of appeals the only way he will be able to finish it is when they both are finally executed by the state.
This is directed by Bennett Miller who's only other film was the documentary "The Cruise" and one can't help but be impressed with his direction but of course it helps to have a special actor like Hoffman in the starring role. This film does belong to Hoffman and his performance can easily be described as riveting especially during the scenes when he talks about himself growing up as different and one gets a good sense of why he became such a charmer. One of the more interesting things that the film lets on is that Harper Lee actually helped Truman gain information for his book "In Cold Blood" while still working on "To Kill a Mockingbird" and in fact, her book was published and made into a film while he still waited for the appeals to end. The 6 years that Truman worked on "In Cold Blood" was the time that changed him forever to the point that he never wrote another novel again and this film does a splendid job of making sure that audiences understand that this man was so disturbed by his own behavior that he never forgave himself. This isn't really a biography but the film does a remarkable job of capturing the time and events that led to Truman questioning his own humanity. Miller is certainly a director to watch but it's Hoffman who once again demonstrates that he's one of our finest actors working today as he provides one of the year's best performances.