Capote
By: Moviefaire | Category: Film Reviews | 11/09/05 | 06:57 PM
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Grade: A+ | Genre: Drama
Summary: Finally, a drama that delivers the goods on all fronts -- a tight story, flawless direction, and powerful acting. Give yourself an opportunity to get involved in a film again and discover this mesmerizing biopic about an event and an author that defines a piece of American culture.
Capote leads the pack of fall films as a powerfully crafted movie, with a shape-shifting performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman who morphs so completely into the skin of Truman Capote, that I could hardly tell the difference between Hoffman and the odd little man I used to see on old television talk shows. Bennett Miller and Dave Futterman forge a seamless film together with not one element missing. The scent of death in this film is palpable as the audience is ushered into another time and place in America. A physical sensation of the era, and the sense of desolation of Kansas itself descend upon you as the film opens, and never actually departs until you are out of the theater thanks to the powerful cinematography of Adam Kimmel. One can thank heaven for a film that actually permits for character development on all fronts and for all the characters in this film. Finally, a complete film, and unfortunately, one of the first I have seen in the current venue of films in a year that have made grey matter an optional requirement for viewing. |
By profoundly creating time travel on celluloid, Miller, in an amazing first feature film, takes us back to an America that is shocked at violence without reason, and one that demands justice without much investigation. The atmosphere of this film could be cut with a meat cleaver and there is no escaping it. There is no escape from the death of this isolated family, no escape from the desire to see this story played out, even if you know the outcome already. By genuinely recreating a world and the people in it, Dave Futterman and Bennett Miller do the impossible and allow the audience to walk into the lives of the killers and into the mind of the troubled, caustic little man who exploited them. Every detail of necessary development is executed throughout the film, from the costumes to Capote's cigarettes, and you are even permitted to breathe the cold air and feel the snowflakes on the ground in Kansas. This piece of cinema does not flinch from the luxury of insightful dialogue which births the complete and absorbing performances from the actors.
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| Capote |
| Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, Clifton Collins Jr. & Bruce Greenwood |
| Director: Bennett Miller |
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| View the Trailer (Quicktime) |
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Seldom do actors have so much to work with as they do with the powerhouse of a script by Dave Futterman, who has managed to etch out a character study of a writer most know as more of a caricature than a person. In fact, Futterman creates a literary magic that transfers to the screen just as the author, Gerald Clarke, did originally with the novel of the same name. Capote transcends from just an acerbic, name-dropping writer in vogue during the 1960s, to a wounded individual with issues so great that his soul somehow takes comfort in the suffering of others. The careful dialogue allows for Capote, his friends, and his cherished killers to be felt, fleshed out, and known on an intimate level. The same grace of character development is given to Perry Smith, the killer, and to Neil Harper Lee, his stable friend, personal conscience, and perfect foil. While they are on screen you come to know them from a depth far above the norm, and as the actors take the material and run with it, an array of complex personalities comes to life.
Hoffman's Capote is someone who is dramatically flawed as a human being but fascinating to watch. Capote has aspired to write the ultimate nonfiction novel, but as someone who is damaged goods reaching out to other damaged goods, he can only see part of the story. Capote opens this literary Pandora's box and wants to shut it when it is convenient to him, but it will not close until he faces his own dishonesty. The greatness in Hoffman's performance is that the audience ricochets with Capote's pain at the last meeting he is forced to have with Perry Smith, knowing full well Capote could have possibly done more to assist them. The writer is in more pain than the men about to die, and you can tangibly feel this. Hoffman will be up for golden statues for this one, both the spherical kind and the little bald gent, and so should this film, its director and screenwriter.
Another horrific crime will have been committed if this movie, director, and its lead and supporting actors are not nominated, but hopefully justice will prevail in this case.
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