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He speaks funny, he’s more eccentric than a hippie running a medieval costume
store and he’s loosely involved in a murder. A tale of man and
his love of a typewriter this surely isn’t. In fact, the
Blickensderfer 5 barely gets any screen time compared to the compelling
underbelly bubbling above the loam the legendary author walked.
Though a fairly famous writer in his own right (he wrote, among other things, the lovely Breakfast at Tiffany’s), Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is about to write the best book of our times. In Cold Blood,
would be based on the real life tale of two young men who brutally
murdered a family of four at their farmhouse in rural Kansas. With his
notebook, peculiar personality and eagerness to hear – Capote,
via the two men on death row (though it’s one that he befriends
to a great extent) - learns the truth about the night, and gets the
ending he was clandestinely hoping for.
If Scott J in Boogie Nights (1998) and Rusty Zimmerman in Flawless (1999) were the tasty base, and Lester Bangs in Almost Famous (2000) and Dan Mahowny in Owning Mahowny
(2003) were the delicious creamy middle than Truman Capote is the
scrumptious icing ON the cake for Philip Seymour Hoffman. This is the
role the versatile actor has been working himself up to all these
years, and he doesn’t spoil the opportunity. As Capote, the man
is immersing, powerful and instantly credible. He’s got the
mannerisms, the look, the voice…the personality down pat.
It’s as if he walked straight out of a golden-age newsreel.
There’s more to the film than
Hoffman’s performance, though it’s undeniably the
highlight. The screenplay – by actor Dan Futterman (The Birdcage)
– isn’t preachy or pushy - merely insightful and
compelling, the supporting performances are winning, beefy back up
(Keener is especially good as Capote’s friend, author Lee Harper,
of To Kill a Mockingbird fame), and the direction is rich and clear-cut.
The performance you’ll see in Capote
is easily the best of the year…. actually, the best of any year.
It’s one of those turns that’ll be remembered for years to
come – up with Welles in Citizen Kane, Brando in The Godfather, Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and De Niro in The Deer Hunter.
Pure brilliance.
EXTRAS
Extras on the DVD include dual commentaries (one features Hoffman), a two-part making of, and a featurette on Capote. Not bad.
Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: 75%
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