Underwhelming Film Despite Stellar Hoffman Performance

Rating: 6/10 (13 November 2005)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance as Truman Capote will undoubtedly earn him best actor candidacy. So poignant was Hoffman's acting in the last moments of the film that no one in the audience rose or spoke for several moments into the credits.
Hoffman's achievement notwithstanding, Capote was laborious and plodding and the supporting cast was lackluster at best. Katherine Keener was badly miscast. I loved her sexy quirkiness in Being John Malkovich and The 40 Year Old Virgin. As the matronly Nelle Harper Lee, she was no-frills plain vanilla. Clifton Collins Jr. was unconvincing as the sociopath Percy Smith. Bob Balaban deserves bigger roles.
I give the film a 6, with 5 of those points being credited to Hoffman.