CAPOTE (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
"Capote" is not a big-screen biography of one of the most famous writers of the 20th century. In fact, this is one of the great films about the process of writing and how the subject of what one is writing can affect the writer so deeply.
The book was "In Cold Blood," considered one of the finest non-fiction books ever written. The writer was the fey, egotistical Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The movie begins in 1959 where Truman is enjoying the fruits of his success after writing "Breakfast at Tiffany's," though he feels the need to pursue something other than fiction. He finds it when he reads about the brutal slaying of a family in Kansas by two killers. The killers are apprehended and Truman sees the potential for a New Yorker magazine article, something to delight his crowd of friends and intellectuals. Capote visits Kansas with Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), another writer who has just completed "To Kill a Mockingbird." He wants to see the mutilated bodies and visit the murderers, as well as question the local police on the grisly details. After assimilating so much information, Capote decides that a non-fiction book would be more appropriate.
The killers are, as most true crime enthusiasts know, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino). Capote spends more time questioning Perry and developing his confidence in the story, realizing they both came from similar backgrounds. Capote feels pity for Perry and requests the help of top lawyers to avoid a death sentence. But something happens to Capote as he feels the essence of the crime to be too brutal to feel any kind of pity for the murderers. When Capote starts learning the details of the crime and hears a confession of true evil from Perry (one of the most startling, stark confessions of the power of evil since Polanski's "Death and the Maiden"), we see that Capote feels remorse and shame at himself for being lured by such a grisly crime.
Philip Seymour Hoffman gives the first truly knockout performance of his inspiring career (that he won an Oscar and so many actor's prizes for this role should come as no surprise). He captures Capote's look and voice with vivid fidelity, but there is more than gifted mimicry at work here. Hoffman captures the man's humanity, his loss of ethics and morals in writing such an emotionally draining book, and his growing disintegration through alcohol. His performance is certainly complex, evoking the deceit of his character and the bond he develops with Perry, despite fake promises and lies.
Catherine Keener is a slight weakness in the film's structure playing Nelle Harper Lee, Capote's dedicated friend. Somehow Keener is a little flat and doesn't have enough scenes - I would've been fine if her role was omitted altogether. Her role is so brief that you'll forget she was ever Capote's research assistant in the first place.
The real crux of the film is Capote's relationship to Perry and Clifton Collins, Jr. is exceptional as Perry. Collins doesn't channel Robert Blake or even Eric Roberts - he opts for a complacent quality that is just as creepy and realistic. Same with the short-shrifted role of Hickock, as played by Mark Pellegrino who has an eerie laugh.
"Capote" is not an entertaining film. It is a slow-paced, dark, penetrating look at the ethics of exploiting someone for the purposes of a book. It affected Capote till the end of his days, to the point that he never completed a book after "In Cold Blood." I get the sneaking suspicion that Capote might have wished he never wrote it in the first place.
