Performance amazing, movie terribly boring

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2006)

I finally got to see Capote to bank in on its recent Oscar success.
And well, I was disappointed tremendously.
It's not that Capote is a bad movie by any stretch. The filmmakers clearly know how to make a movie, and the acting and writing is topnotch. It's just that...the movie is boring. It drags out for what seems like hours, but are only painful minutes. It harps on some plot points, but misses others or just pokes at them.
It seems like they were going for a real arty feel, and just ended up forgetting to add any invigoration to it. While being topnotch in many categories, it just doesn't have the uplifting, or movement needed to make a film be enjoyable on all counts. I wanted to fall asleep for much of the movie, it just was too boring for my liking.
The story itself is tremendously interesting, but the movie just lacks the life force and power to make the entire thing work. If they chopped a bit out, and added some more interesting elements to it, then it would have been a whole lot better.
Of course, Hoffman is fabulous as Capote himself. The mannerisms he inhibits are excellent, and you can really almost see the real man he's portraying. Whereas Charlize just wanted glory for Monster, and Jamie Foxx faltered in more than a handful of areas in Ray, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is perfect as Capote. He chews up every scene he's in, and completely blows all the other actors in the film into the wind. Catherine Keener may have got an Oscar nod, but she completely lost out on making any sort of impression, because Hoffman stole it from everybody.
The movie may be lacking, but he is not. He deserves the award hands down. It's a boring film with a astonishing Oscar worthy performance. If you have to see it, see it for Hoffman, and nothing else.
7.5/10.