Artistry worth of its subject.

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2011)

Bennett Miller's matches the dark story of Truman Capote's research on the Kansas Clutter murders he made famous with gorgeous dark establishing shots of the Kansas prairie. These frame equally visually arresting shots of domestic and prison interiors of the 1960s so well done that the scenes of the Clutter's murders still shock despite pervasive cinematic violence. Philip Seymour Hoffman's impeccable performance needs no superlatives, his impersonation's exactitude extends to how he holds a newspaper or a fork, only Charlize Theron's performance in "Monster" as Aileen Wuornos is its superior. The story of the development and writing of Capote's "In Cold Blood" derives the big screen treatment as it includes murder, execution, and most interestingly Capote's ruthlessness in working his relationship with Perry Smith, one of the murderers, into a confession. The story aptly captures the pain and sacrifice necessitated to create great literature. In short, well worth seeing.