Writer and socialite Truman Capote was only looking for the next great story when he investigated the murder of a family in small town Kansas. Capote tells the story behind one of the greatest nonfiction works of the century, In Cold Blood, and its author’s increasingly complex relationship with one of the murderers, Perry Smith.
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance as the baby-voiced Capote is initially amusing because of Capote’s egocentrism and his clashes with local law enforcement, but the movie comes to rest entirely on Hoffman’s shoulders, as he adopts Capote’s speech and mannerisms perfectly. Hoffman’s performance is akin to Jamie Foxx’s in Ray, he embodies the character so entirely. For the duration of the film, Hoffman is Truman Capote.
Capote’s journey begins as he flounces into Holcomb, Kan. to document how recent murders have affected the community. When the murderers are caught, Capote begins to investigate them, seeking to write the first compelling non-fiction novel. As the events that occurred on the night of Nov. 14, 1959 come into sharper focus, Capote doesn’t just need to know what happened, he needs to understand why, and more importantly, how the story is going to end.
One of the murderers, Perry Smith, quickly intrigues Capote, and the author is clearly in over his head as the relationship becomes increasingly more intimate. Hoffman’s portrayal of Capote’s moral ambiguity alone is worth the price of the movie ticket. He will say and do anything to get the information he needs to write his book. Friends watch helplessly as Capote withdraws into his search for the meaning behind murder.
Hoffman is surrounded by a cast of capable, if underused actors, particularly Chris Cooper as an investigator and Catherine Keener as Harper Lee. Relative unknown Clifton Collins Jr. matches Hoffman in his performance as the eerie and deceptive Smith. The two not only share battered childhoods but a questionable sense of morality that unravels over time.
Rushed into theaters to beat the more Hollywood-friendly Capote drama Have You Heard?, starring Sandra Bullock, Gywneth Paltrow and the new 007 Daniel Craig, Capote is chilling because, essentially, it is the story of a man who is willing to destroy his life to create “the nonfiction book of the decade.” He is searching for humanity but only finds the depths of the human capacity for senseless violence. He becomes too involved in the story and cannot break away from Smith, with whom he has become irreversibly entwined.
As the movie draws to a close, the question becomes, how can Capote save himself from the horrors he’s discovered? The answer is shocking and fascinating and brings the movie to its wrenching conclusion. m
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