Loneliness, Shame, Compulsion

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2006)

Capote is a devastatingly lonely film about a highly sensitive and celebrated Southern writer sinking deeper into shame as he moves in ever closer to a subject he thinks he's on top of, but is simply not emotionally equipped to handle. I have never seen this emotional territory explored in such uncompromising terms.
Like Icarus, Truman Capote flies too close to the heartbreaking, murderous truth. Adulated and indulged by the literati inhabiting the circle of William Shawn's New Yorker, we see Capote wallowing in cosmopolitan narcissism, reaping the worldly rewards of being endowed with an extraordinary ear for language and eye for observation.
Aptly, these last two gifts are also possessed by the actor who plays him - Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman's combination of focus, presence and interpretive genius has been a screen wonder for almost a decade. He is quite simply, Hollywood's most versatile character player. This time, director Bennet Miller blocks and shoots Hoffman in a way that summons unprecedented color from his star's already formidable skill and presence. No one should overlook the empathetic support Catherine Keener provides Hoffman in scene after scene, as she plays Harper Lee, Capote's friend and research assistant. Clifton Collins also turns in a compelling performance opposite Hoffman as multiple murderer Perry Smith. His scenes are full of simmering heat, nuance and subtlety.
Over all, a disturbing and memorable film.