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4.235.253.141
A plebeian, purposefully plodding, and dull-witted account of a brilliant, witty fellow. Yes, Hoffman does a wonderful job: it's easy playing over the top guys like a Capote. If mimicry and impersonation were all there is to the acting "game," Hoffman would be at the pinnacle in this performance.
Not a mediocre or poor job, mind you, just one that considerably is below the praise it is getting. Catherine Keener is her usual wonderful self as Nelle Harper Lee, but, like Capote's character, the underwriting gives her nothing much of note to say, no scenes that sparkle or crackle.
It is hard to believe we are watching a film about an author's famed depiction of a sensational and brutal crime. The matter of fact, bland and tepid telling is more suitable to a film about jay-walking.
Do we learn much about Capote? No, except what we knew: he was an expert at using people and lying.
Anything about the murderers? No. Smith was using Capote, as well.
So, the only point of interest, since the story and characterizations are a bore, is the skill in which such a story is told. Direction, editing, and script are poor.
I must ad that the first fifteen minutes, or so, when Chris Cooper is much on screen are the best and my hopes were high that the film would continue on the high trajectory. Unfortunately, they fell as hard as Smith did through the trap door.
Follow Ups:
...an artful, complex and honest examination of a gifted individual at the turning point of both his career and his life. The moral and critical issues raised by this film are as relevant today as they were when Capote was researching the Clutter murders.Neither fiction nor journalism has been the same since the publication of In Cold Blood. Truman Capote was never the same as an artist or a man after his experiences in Kansas. He fed his inner beast - and it devoured him. Moreover, he let loose the beast across this land.
That's why this fine, small film deserves to be nominated for Best Picture.
Capote, along with Good Night & Good Luck, may be miniatures but they go deeper than other films painted on a broader canvas dare.
IMO Hoffman does a superb job of playing Capote - the portrayal could so easily have veered into caricature or parody of this larger than life artist. I found Hoffman utterly believeable and tragic - no mere mimicry or impersonation in his performance - an extraordinary balancing act.
Tinear, with such highly charged material as Capote, understated & subtle are virtues.
subject of the film (how great and influential the book was) than the depiction of the events leading to it.
If you had read my opinion, it criticized the screenplay. I found the direction wanting, as well.
Hoffman nailed an imersonation of Capote, the Capote one saw on talk shows and interviews, but never went beyond it. Capote didn't speak always at the same pace or act similarly. He had a public persona which carefully he nurtured. Hoffman never took us deeper.
This film reminds me of Pollack, a year or so ago. All the clichés about the artist are presented, over and over.
"Highly charges"? I saw nothing of the sort. Capote was a 1000-watt personality here reduced to a Bic lighter.
It's always a pleasure to read your thoughtful, cogent responses, Harmonia.
I agree it's a waste of a best picture nomination but Hoffman played that character with a lot of nuance and dimension. A lot of it sublte... which is harder to do and, usually, more rewarding to watch.
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
Well, I disagree with tinear on this one. I found Hoffman's performance excellent -- a slight underplay of an overplaying character. I don't think this is that easy. Combine this performance with his excellent portrait of Brian Molony in the (okay) "Owning Mahowney", and I think we're talking maybe one of the finest contemporary actors.I was riveted by this film. Found it to be a simple artistic portrait of a distinctive character at a turning point in his life and career.
To me, it's significant that the film is a much better presentation of its subject than the piece of book on which it's based (something like 20 or 30 pages of the biography, if I recall correctly).
I found the cinematography good. The New York scenes, rather realistically set, played off against the Midwest in a thoughtful manner, in my opinion.
How in the world Truman Capote ever got through "In Cold Blood" always puzzled me. Perhaps this prejudices me in favor of the film. For that matter, I suspect that a young audience which knows nothing of the "TV set" Truman Capote may react quite differently than an oldtimer like me.
No disrespect meant at all to tinear, but I think the fact that the scenes don't "sparkle or crackle" is, in this case, intentional -- part of the set, as it were. One thing I respect about "Capote" is just that -- it doesn't try to swat you. I fact, I thought that the one swat -- the brief view of the murder -- was useful in setting itself off against the more contemplative depiction of a sensitive, brilliant, determined, conceited man forcefully facing up to some elements of his past and present. Some, not all, which again seemed significant to me.
I think I'm beginning to run on here, and I'm tired, so I'll stop. Again, I'm not trying to disrespect anyone else's opinion on this one. I suspect it's a film that provokes reaction rather personally.
Bill
There are sooooo many places Hoffman's perfromance of Capote could've gone off the rails...but never did.Totally awesome performance IMO. Excellent, understated movie that surpasses its source material.
There were two very worthwhile moments in this film but that an excellent film cannot make: near the beginning when he, almost wounded, says to Nelle, "I never lie."
Of course, we see lying is a common behavior.
Later on, there is a comment about two societies that usually are apart but in this rare instance came together: "regular" and criminally violent ones.
I didn't say the film was worthless, after all, just that I thought the portrayal of Capote shallow, which it was, with not enough scenes that stood out, one from another. Hoffman did as good a job as possible, given he didn't have much to say that was novel or wasn't endlessly repeated.
One can convey, in my opinion, a purposefulness in a film (or show boredom) w/out so slowing down and dumbing down a movie as to exasperate a viewer.
Hoffman does an excellent job of creating a wholly defined character. This is a wasted nomination for best picture...and I agree it was a bit of a bore.Film == B-
IMHO, of course.
...riveted for the entire length of the picture. Went by in a snap to me.
I do not think there was any attempt at mere impersonation. Hoffman carefully and thoughtfully constructed a fictional character, based upon and starting from the real Truman Capote. This is not a documentary, not meant to teach people about Capote in a literal sense. If you find the characterizations, a "bore", then it is no wonder you didn't like the movie. It is all about characterization, but I found them uniformly excellent and interesting.
current in the sea of dialogue.
Hoffman was shackled by a weak script and was left only mimicking as a one-dimensional character.
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