CAPOTE

RATING: B-

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins, Jr., Chris Cooper, Bruce Greenwood, Bob Balaban, Amy Ryan Mark Pellegrino, Allie Mickelson. Music by Mychael Danna, Edited by Christopher Tellefsen, Production Designer Jess Gonchor, Costume Designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone, Produced by Caroline Baron, Michael Ohoven, William Vince, Based on the book by Gerald Clarke, Screenplay by Dan Futterman, Directed by Bennett Miller.

Rated R, Running Time 114 mins., 2.39 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Bennett Miller's "Capote" takes us to a turning point in the famous author's life at which his world would never be the same. Its 1959, Truman Capote's career is at a high point with the runaway success of his novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and he's enjoying his life amongst New York's elite with pure flamboyance. One morning while reading the paper, he becomes intrigued by an article involving the brutal murder of a family in Holcomb, Kansas and informs his editor William Shawn (Bob Balaban) he wishes to travel there to write an article on its impact on the community. With his childhood friend and soon to be famous writer of "To Kill A Mockingbird", Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) in tow, Truman seeks out Alvin Dewey, lead agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Lee and Capote also reach out and make contact with Laura Kinney (Allie Mickelson) the seventeen year old girl who discovered the brutally murdered bodies of the Clutter family. Using his charm, Truman interviews and coaxes information from the girl about what good people the Clutter's were and realizes he's on to a big story.

Once Capote takes an unauthorized peek at the closed caskets of the family in a funeral home, he realizes that his article is meant to be a book. Soon after, the killers of the Clutter family are captured and identified as Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.). To get to the heart of the story and study his real subjects, Truman befriends the two imprisoned men and in a nurturing way, convinces Perry to give up his hunger strike. He gets them a new lawyer to appeal their case and persuades Perry, with whom he shares an interest in literature, to give him his journal. Over the course of four years, Truman works on the book and it evolves into something greater than he could have anticipated. After reading early drafts, Shawn becomes excited at the book's potential and convinces Capote to give a reading in front of a packed New York audience. Meanwhile in Kansas, Truman has managed to slowly sever ties with Perry, who desperately waits to hear on the progress of the book that he hopes will tell his and Richard's story and maybe set them free.

What Perry doesn't realize is that unintentionally, Truman has been manipulating them. The few times he returns to their Kansas prison cell to see them, he lies that he's barely written a word and that he hasn't even thought of a title. When Perry learns of Truman's successful reading of "In Cold Blood", he lies again that the title is a temporary one created by his publisher’s marketing department. Truman becomes so deceptive to his new friends that he fails to realize the book he's writing is an animal greater than himself. His longtime companion Jack (Bruce Greenwood) can see how Truman's obsession has grown out of control and at the same time the emotional connection he shares with Perry has eclipsed their relationship. As the "non-fiction novel" continues to take shape and Perry and Richard's day of execution nears, Capote realizes that he's exhausted his soul to exploit the men he befriended and that deep down he is looking forward to the peace that will come from their demise.

"Capote" was directed by Bennett Miller, whose sole credit as a director was the 1998 Timothy "Speed" Levitch documentary, "The Cruise." He's teamed up with writer and actor Dan Futterman to take on a fascinating story that's unfortunately too complex for him to convey on film. Truman Capote was one of the most unique and memorable writers of the late twentieth century and to tell the story of his development of "In Cold Blood" is a massive undertaking. Capote was indeed flamboyant, devious, manipulative, selfish and even jealous, but he also had a unique writing style and that is where the picture fails. The film is about his experiences that helped shape one of the greatest books ever written, but we're provided very little insight into Capote's creative process. Scenes of interaction between Hoffman's Capote and Collins, Jr.'s Perry are wonderfully played, but for those familiar with the book, the forbidden attraction they shared just isn't there. Though the film may fail in its intentions to show what made Capote a unique talent, it does wonderfully demonstrate what made him a unique person.

I must admit I was extremely skeptical at the casting of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman, but my doubts quickly faded less than five minutes into the picture. Much of Capote's humor remains intact as well as his pathetic need to impress his friends. One scene in particular involves Keener's Harper Lee, picking up on the fact that Capote paid a young black porter to praise his writing in front of her, during their train ride to Kansas. Hoffman is surrounded by small but memorable supporting performances from Cooper, Keener, Balaban and Clifton Collins, Jr. – not an obvious choice to play Perry, but ultimately a brave one. The moment where Perry finally reveals to Truman what happened to the Clutter family is graphic and violent, yet there's a sense of sympathy for he and Richard.

"Capote" undoubtedly belongs to Hoffman and if there were a single reason to see the picture it would be his performance. Not only has he captured Capote's flamboyant attitude, his shamelessness and unique high-pitched raspy voice, but his fragility and tenderness are also present. One scene that stands out doesn't involve Capote making jokes at another's expense, but recalling to Cooper's Alvin Dewey and his wife how his stepfather wanted him to talk about anything he desired in an attempt to get his troubled mind off of the death of Truman's mother, who had just committed suicide. While grieving "he didn't want to be alone in his thoughts," Truman tells Dewey, which is an example of how many individuals handle tragedy, which is something Capote struggled with himself. Following the release of "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote was so affected by his involvement with the story that he never published a finished work again.