"Ever since I was a child, folks have thought they had me pegged, because of the way I am, the way I talk. And they're always wrong. " - Truman Capote

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2005)

Philip Seymour Hoffman has been one of my favorite actors for four years. He is just such an incredible performer whether he is a desperate hospice nurse in 'Magnolia', a degenerate sick gambler in 'Owning Mahoney', a closet gay porn film assistant in 'Boogie Nights', a perverted phone caller in 'Happiness' or even a vengeful Mormon mattress salesman in 'Punch-Drunk Love'. Whatever role Mr. Hoffman takes he achieves utter perfection in. He is such a great actor but the Academy always ignores him. In his latest film 'Capote' chronicling famous author Truman Capote's struggle writing his book 'In Cold ', Hoffman plays Truman Capote. Rarely, have I seen a performance as ground-breaking as this. Philip Seymour Hoffman goes beyond perfection in bringing one of recent history's most famous novelists to life. Let's just cancel the 'Best Lead Actor' ceremony at the 2005 Academy Awards right now, and rightfully hand Philip Seymour Hoffman the 'Best Actor' Oscar. Trust me, his performance is THAT brilliant.
'Capote' is a decent film that is great as it is primarily on Hoffman's performance (as stated in the above paragraph.) Hoffman nails Capote as he was. An obnoxious, self-centered, attention hog who really only cared about how issues effected him, but could get away with it because he was a great writer. Most biopics try to sugar-coat their subjects (I won't name any names) but 'Capote' doesn't do anything of the sort. Actually one of the first scenes of the film is Truman Capote traveling by train with his dear friend Harper Lee, the author of the immortal classic 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (played nicely by indie favorite Catherine Keener). On the train a black luggage carrier compliments Capote by saying 'Just when you think your books can't get any better, I'm proved wrong!". It turns out Capote payed him to say that in front of Lee to make himself look superior to her. But for all his bull, Lee puts up with Capote and she travels with him to a small town in Kansas where an entire family was brutally murdered in the most horrific act against humanity the town has ever seen. They eventually catch the culprits, one of which is a shy hispanic man (played powerfully by Clifton Collins, Jr. - Traffic), who Capote develops a close relationship to, but tries not to become to emotionally involved with because he is on death row.
Like I said before, the best thing by far about this film is Hoffman's beyond powerful performance as the extremely swishy and almost creepy Truman Capote. The other actors in the film are all pretty good (but incomparable to Hoffman). Catherine Keener is perfectly cast as Harper Lee while Clifton Collins, Jr. sparks emotion from his powerful performance as a brutal killer with a conscience. 'Capote' also stars Bruce Greenwood (Thirteen Days) as Capote's lover, Bob Balaban (Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman) as Capote's agent and the undeniably marvelous Chris Cooper (who also stars in this year's 'Jarhead' and the upcoming 'Syriana') as the Kansas town's police chief. Bennett Miller does a not too shabby job directing (nothing too noticeable) and the writing mixes between great, powerful, so-so and dragging. The total runtime of the film is 98 minutes, but it feels longer because it has some pacing issues. On an up-note, the film does a perfect job creating the look and feel of the era.
If Philip Seymour Hoffman weren't in 'Capote' it wouldn't be worth seeing. But since he is in it, giving one of his finest if not his finest performance, make sure you get a chance to screen it before the Oscars to see for yourself what everyone is raving about. My hat goes off to you Mr. Hoffman, you impressed me once again. Grade: B+ (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, Arizona, 11/13/05)
my ratings guide - A+ (absolutley flawless); A (a masterpiece, near-perfect); A- (excellent); B+ (great); B (very good); B- (good); C+ (a mixed bag); C (average); C- (disappointing); D+ (bad); D (very bad); D- (absolutley horrendous); F (not one redeeming quality in this hunk of Hollywood feces).