Director: Bennett Miller
Year Released: 2005
Rating: 2.0
Literary prodigy Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and protégé Harper Lee (an atypically mellow Catherine Keener) investigate the murder of a family in Kansas that would lead to Capote writing his famous work, In Cold Blood. Tries to remain impartial to the story like a journalist, but spends the last part of the movie bludgeoning the Capote character as if it were some kind of expose on what a questionable person he was in real life, even suggesting that the sole reason for his involvement was that he had a passing attraction to one of the men (he 'dismissed' the other by giving him dirty magazines and never, on screen, talking to him). Remains droll throughout, with everyone in sleepy time mode (even Capote, once he goes to Kansas, morphs from flashy raconteur to passive drunk) - the ending had the potential to be sensationalistic, but it turns out to be the most subdued cinematic execution scene in recent memory. Hoffman's performance has been widely praised, though once in a while he seems like a caricature (the same way I felt Jamie Foxx did in portraying Ray Charles) - when take an already eccentric character and have someone play him/her on screen, you run the risk of going overboard. As a bit of acting it's certainly notable, but otherwise disappointing.
