The Village of Holcomb Stands on the High Wheat Plains of Western Kansas...

Capote Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper Director: Bennett Miller Quality: **** Adventurous: !! Similar Films: Fargo, Pee Wee's Big Adventure (both for his voice and the topic of "American Mystery") In the mid 1960's, at a time when real American writers were expected to produce works of fiction along the lines of Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote released his classic novel In Cold Blood. Focusing on the grisly murder of a rural Kansas family, the book was a smashing success. It created--or perhaps merely gave a name to--a new genre of writing known as the “non-fiction novel”, which would quickly become one of the most popular literary forms. Capote, a film by unknown director Bennett Miller, is the story of author Truman Capote and his self-destructive quest to write one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. Based on a book by Gerald Clarke, Capote focuses most of its energy on the relationships that Truman maintained, both with friends in New York, and with the two men, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, who were found guilty of the Kansas murders. Arguably the best character actor in independent cinema today, Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Big Lebowski), stars as the flamboyant author. Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, The 40 Year Old Virgin) plays Harper Lee, his lifelong friend, and author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Together they embark on a journey to the heart of America, ultimately hoping to write a short story for the New Yorker magazine. By sweet talking a local law man (Chris Cooper) and spinning yarns from Capote's photographic memory, Truman discovers enough information from the townspeople to begin a potential book. Within months he befriends the killers, and uses his relationship with them to extract intimate details about the night of the murders. After the two murderers are found guilty, Capote persuades them to remain in contact with him. He hires an appeals lawyer for the men, angering many of the townspeople who assisted his efforts. After several years of research and interviews, Capote has almost completed his book. The only question that remains, before he can finish, is whether or not Hickock and Smith will be executed for the crimes. Capote is a gloomy adaptation of Clarke's novel. The sense of darkness that surrounds the entire Kansas town and its inhabitants is set beautifully by Bennett Miller. He films only in winter, and only in settings that give an impression of desolation. The outdoor shots, reminiscent of Fargo, are as rich as Capote's descriptions of Holcomb, Kansas. In the New York scenes, the film has a decidedly glamorous air. As Truman moves from one social gathering to the next, we see how superficial his life was, and how he entertained himself within that life by drinking heavily and telling wild stories. The musical score is as subtle as the landscape it describes. There are no swellings of violins or swooping brass instruments, and because of that the music functions as a perfect compliment to the action and setting. Together, each piece of film is works with the others to form an enjoyable cohesive work. There is nothing worse for a film than to have its lead character savagely washed away by a broken accent or poor costume. Capote stays afloat in that regard. Hoffman is perfect as Truman Capote. As can be seen from the picture above, he is a dead ringer for the man. For extra credit points, he affects the legendary squeaky drawl perfectly. This enhances viewing pleasure immensely. Catherine Keener is also enjoyable as the sometimes unwilling sidekick, Harper Lee. As men of great importance swirl around each other, praising and boasting, Keener plays as if her austere southern writer were the only person of integrity in New York literary circles. Her masculinity counterbalances Capote's femininity perfectly, creating a yin-yang of repartee. As always, Chris Cooper is down-to-earth and understated. In some lives there are moments which, looked at later, can be seen as the lines that define the beginning of a dramatic rise or decline...The proximate cause of [Capote's] tragic fall-for that's what it was- was In Cold Blood itself. -Gerald Clarke, Author of Capote By the end of 1966, In Cold Blood was an American sensation. Truman Capote, on the other hand, was destroyed. Riddled with self-doubt after publishing the novel, Capote became almost permanently blocked. Although he did complete a novella and a few short stories, he never published another completed novel. Many claim that it was his unethical work on In Cold Blood that destroyed his writing career. In 1984, he died from an overdose of pills after battling alcoholism and depression. His only other novel, Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel, was published posthumously.