| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Capote (2005) |
| Director | Bennett Miller |
| Writer | Dan Futterman, based on the book by Gerald Clarke |
| Lead Actor | Philip Seymour Hoffman |
| Cast | Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Cooper, Bruce Greenwood |
| Genre | Biography, Crime, Drama |
| Release Date | September 30, 2005 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 54m |
| Budget | $7 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 7.3/10 |
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CAPOTE is a riveting cinematic look at the story behind Truman Capote’s best-selling 1965 book In Cold Blood. Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is still reveling in his success from the best-selling Breakfast at Tiffany’s when he reads a story about the murder of four members of the Clutter family in an obscure western Kansas town. No one knows who killed them. Capote goes there, interviews people and writes his next book about it.
He asks his childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) to accompany him as his assistant. At the time, Lee is trying to get To Kill a Mockingbird published. Capote ingratiates himself with the locals by dropping celebrity names to the wife of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), head of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
The killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), are apprehended. The film recounts the four years it took Capote to glean information for the book, especially the acknowledgment of who pulled the trigger and why. At first, the author tries to help the accused by hiring better lawyers for appeals, but it is always in view of the story over altruism.
Meanwhile, Capote has relationship problems with his partner, Jack (Bruce Greenwood), and pressure from his publisher. Because Smith requested it, Capote is present at the hanging tears of sorrow, empathy and regret stream down his face, perhaps for the cold-blooded way he dealt with the subjects to get his story. The film notes that Capote never completed another book after In Cold Blood.
Capote is an extremely literary film, a nuanced subjective study of the man and the objective fiction-style crime genre he created with the book In Cold Blood. Hoffman’s work is Oscar-worthy, portraying the high-society Southern author who lived in New York and entertained the rich and powerful at parties with his affected manners.
To see the film and read the book (which I did) is like taking a master class in history, literature and storytelling. The film is directed by a relative newcomer, Bennett Miller. The screenplay is by first-time writer Dan Futterman, who portrayed Vincent Gray in Judging Amy.
Capote is the whole package Cinema Americana from many perspectives, especially that of the genius who may have sold his soul for a tale that beckons as it repels. Some profanity, crude expressions and a hanging.
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