Gripping, tragic and bravely objective in its portrayal -- and I knew Philip Seymour Hoffman could be counted on

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2006)

Capote (2005) is not a coming-of-success story dealing with the birth of an author like most bio-pics do -- but it zooms in on the American writer Truman Capote at the height of his career, when he is researching and documenting the Kansas Cutter murders for his much heralded book "In Cold Blood". This is a patient, careful film in which good performances are thankfully abundant and facilitate an already well-crafted screenplay.
Although it is always compelling, Capote has, like most films, its more powerful scenes and its thinner scenes. It has its ups and downs, and often manages emotional. Similarly, so does Truman. There are many scenes in which you like him for his rhetoric, intellect and humour and other parts you find him quite morally distasteful, as when he makes it clear to the killer he is interviewing that he is not his friend as he had lead him to believe, but he is merely doing his job and his using his friendship to get information from him. In this sense, director Bennett Miller is bravely objective and does not shy away from a balanced portrayal.
Need more good aspects? I was never once distracted by the portrayal of the era (1950s-1960s); my eyes never wandered from the actors to the costumes or setting as they are firmly placed in the backseat to make way for a dynamic cast. Clifton Collins Jr. deserves special credit here for his role as the Kansas Cutter murderer -- he acts with such conviction that his presence is felt in scenes he is not even in.
Need some negative aspects? There really aren't any -- ultimately, Capote (2005) simply lacks the 'oomph' to be a 9-10/10.
8/10