Gripping

Rating: 4/10 (29 November 2008)

Bennett Miller's biopic about author Truman Capote and based on the Arthur Clarke biography of the same name. The film focuses on Capote's time spent researching the killing of a family in Kansas at the end of the 50's which would later be the subject of Capote's classic "non-fiction" novel In Cold Blood, which quickly rocketed the young writer to super-stardom. The film's structure is a bit perplexing; a film could easily be made from a number of segments in Capote's fascinating life and this version chooses to elaborate on the 10 years he spent on this particular work, which is essentially the middle of his life. This period certainly yields a lot of interesting material, yet I feel that those who have not read Clarke's biography may feel a little lost as there is very little context included. The most awesome facet of the film is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's incredible impersonation of Capote; he managed to capture all of the complexity and vulnerability of Capote's character, and the film is very interesting in revealing how the young writer's efforts on this project may have ultimately destroyed him.
The film is very engaging and often disturbing. However, a few inaccuracies are worth mentioning. The film seems to depict Capote as being uncaring and disinterested in Dick, the less intelligent of the two killers, yet the biography makes it clear that Capote devoted a great deal of attention to both killers as they awaited execution, despite his clear affection for Perry. Also, the film indicates that In Cold Blood's reception was universal acclaim; quite the contrary, many mainstream reviewers and writers such as Norman Mailer denied the book's literary merits. And thirdly, the title card at the end of the film states that In Cold Blood made Truman Capote the most famous writer in America (which is disputable), and that he never finished another book, which is blatantly false. Capote published Music for Chameleons in 1980, a collection of short stories clearly conceived as a complete book. Despite these problems, Capote is a very compelling film, and Hoffman's performance is one of his best yet.