CAPOTE

Director: Bennett Miller (No major film work)
Starring: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr

After five minutes of watching Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s uncanny portrayal of Truman Capote, I had hopes that I was about to see a masterpiece. Alas, I was wrong. It took a lazy, meandering path along the border of masterpiece, but never a single firm step into the nation of genius. Nope, this was no masterpiece. It was, however, a good solid movie with some fine acting and about a subject that could have been gripping and important. Unfortunately, the script about Capote’s penning the non fiction In Cold Blood and his relationship with the murderers in that book was a bit drab and, frankly, boring. I never felt like I knew anything about Capote. The story in many ways did this on purpose. It tried to show the conflicts of Capote without giving anything away as to how he really felt. He may have been in love with a murderer. He may have simply been in love with himself. He may have just wanted to write a good book. Unfortunately, the mystery surrounding his conflicted emotions simply didn't interest me. I don’t care whether Capote was a self-involved jerk. (Okay, I’m pretty positive that he was.) I want to know about his relationship with the murderer. That’s where the meat lay in this story. Unfortunately, the film only served me tofu, and I was hungry leaving the theater. As I said, this is a good movie, but not a great one. Hoffman may get award consideration, but I doubt he’ll win anything. Of course the rest of the field will have to present itself before we’ll know that for sure.

Standouts: Phillip Hoffman’s portrayal of the affected and distant Capote.
Blowouts: The “could have been awesome” script didn’t quite measure up.

Grade: B+

11/6/2005