The Cost of Genius

Rating: 9/10 (21 June 2007)

One of the best movies of recent years, Capote features a towering performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role as writer Truman Capote. However, do not let Hoffman distract you from the other qualities of this film. A quiet, brooding drama, it is an almost-perfect example of technical style. The cinematography grabs you from the opening shots of the desolate wheat fields and lonely farmhouse in the rural Kansas setting, and the sparse score underscores this sense of desolate isolation and the quiet, introspective tone that these shots help to establish for the feature as a whole. The cast is magnificent. From the aforementioned Hoffman who captures every nuance of a flamboyantly gay, astronomically talented writer from the American South in the late 1950's; to Catherine Keener as the tough and steady Harper Lee; and Chris Cooper as the quietly dignified rural cop and Joe Blow as razor-sharp, artistically talented and cold-blooded killer half-Indian; every principal actor nails his or her respective job. And of course, Bennet Miller keeps it all together as director. All this talent combines to create a fascinating portrait of the price of creating a truly genius work of art. Truman Capote looks through the paper one day and sees the story of a family killed in rural Kansas and knows that this story is perfect for him to investigate and write completely. Along the way to investigating and it, he grows to personally respect one of the its main characters, even as his journalistic and artistic needs force him to cold-bloodedly manipulate and lie to him. These contradictory feelings make for great thought-provoking drama as they simultaneously allow Truman Capote to create the work of his life and tear him apart.