Quiet, subtle, intelligent, and beautiful filmed, but not moving, thought-provoking or entertaining.

Rating: 6/10 (4 February 2006)

* * ½ In 1959, a small Kansas town is shattered by the brutal murders of four people. Writer Truman Capote (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), along with his friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), travels there to write about the effect on the town, but ends up writing a "nonfiction novel" about the killers, painting a portrait of what the two killers were like --- and, in the process, emotionally destroying himself. This true drama is certainly well made. The script, by Dan Futterman, is intelligent, creating incredibly human characters and real dialogue. Hoffman does a good job capturing his eccentric subject, and Keener is superb as Lee. The period detail is absolutely perfect. Director Bennett Miller gives a very talky, slow story enough energy to keep your interest. Miller and cinematographer Adam Kimmel create heartbreakingly beautiful yet subtle images throughout, assisted by an equally beautiful and subtle score by Mychael Danna. And yet, for some reason, the film never grabs you emotionally at all. Never once did I really have any strong feelings for any of the characters or events. It's a sad, dismal story that's interesting, but not that interesting. Only the images provoked any emotion from me. And, while it is intelligent, it didn't leave me thinking about anything. In the end, as Capote says, "I frankly don't see what the fuss is all about." There really isn't anything here that's compelling, moving, or entertaining. It's just intelligent and well made in every other way. In other words, this is a critic's film. It you're interested in a quiet, subtle, and intelligent drama, this is top-notch, but it fails for any kind of actual appeal. Also, if you want to see brilliant imagery in the film, you can't get much better than this. But if you don't have exceptional patience when watching a film, you will fall asleep. In fact, I like slowly-paced films, and my mind wandered several times.