Capote

9/30/20051h 54m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ In New York City, he was the ultimate insider. But out here, he was on the outside, looking in. ~

Overview:

A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".

Director:

Bennett Miller

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$7,000,000.00

Revenue:

$49,327,405.00

Key words:

dreams
based on novel or book
self-fulfilling prophecy
identity
literature
journalism
literature research
biography
based on true story
kansas, usa
magazine
author
truman capote
1950s
1960s

Cast

Philip Seymour Hoffman

~ as ~

Truman Capote

Catherine Keener

~ as ~

Harper Lee

Clifton Collins Jr.

~ as ~

Perry Smith

Bruce Greenwood

~ as ~

Jack Dunphy

Bob Balaban

~ as ~

William Shawn

Mark Pellegrino

~ as ~

Dick Hickock

Marshall Bell

~ as ~

Warden Marshall Krutch

Amy Ryan

~ as ~

Marie Dewey

Bess Meyer

~ as ~

Linda Murchak

Chris Cooper

~ as ~

Alvin Dewey

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
Actor or mimic or both? Philip Seymour Hoffman certainly delivers a plausible and captivating portrayal of the eponymous acclaimed novelist in the late 1950s. He is researching his latest novel when he alights on news of the brutal murder of a Kansas family. Pretty unscrupulously, this rather unfulfilled writer decides this is a rich vein for him to exploit, and so using just about every (legal) means at his disposal manages to ingratiate himself with friends of the victims and then once the police apprehend two suspects, he does the same with Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jnr.). He intends to use the template of this case and the true nature of the personalities to construct a novel - but one based in fact not fiction. What ensues here is quite a cleverly crafted look at just how the shrewd and intelligent man uses his intellect to manipulate the scenario so as to provide him what what he wants, when he wants it - but it also exposes his slightly controlling character to some fault lines. He begins to form a relationship, of sorts, with his quarry - he has a fondness that compromises his objectivity to his story; the accused serves to begin to humanise this rather aloof and frankly quite arrogant figure. There is a distinct power shift here. It's a tightly cast effort this, with most of the emphasis on the efforts of Hoffman, a strong performance from Collins and a useful supporting contribution from Catherine Keener as the foil/conduit for much of her friend Capote's thoughts and behaviour. The style of the production, the attention to detail and the Mychael Danna score all add to the richness of this, admittedly quite speculative, drama that shines a bit of a light not just into what made this man tick, but also just what made the USA tick too.