2008 Woodie Awards
Capote: A Prevalent Classic
Christopher Erat
Issue date: 2/6/06 Section: Entertainment
Capote is not about the 1967 novel In Cold Blood, written by the famously troubled author Truman Capote. It is not about the life of Truman Capote, who lived as a homosexual in a very turbulent age and who was close friends with Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird. It is also not about Truman Capote's close relationship with a man who murdered a family of four in a small Kansas town, which became the basis of In Cold Blood.
Okay, so I lied - it is about all of those things. And it is masterful in every way imaginable. This is cinema at its finest.
The film dives so deep into each previously mentioned topic that there is enough meat to feed all the critics and all the Academy members alike. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who portrays Truman Capote in the film, is going to get the Oscar for Best Actor. No bout adoubt it. The film also has a very good shot at Best Picture, Best Director (Bennett Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener, who portrays Harper Lee), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Dan Futterman). Yes, the film is that damn good.
Why do I defend Capote so adamantly, you may ask? There are many reasons, but the main one can be summed up in a name: Philip Seymour Hoffman. Never heard of him before? Well, you will from now on. While he has been in a number of high profile films including Cold Mountain, Red Dragon, Almost Famous, and The Big Lebowski (the list goes on), this is undoubtedly the role for which he will be remembered. Hoffman portrays all of the idiosyncrasies of Truman Capote to perfection, from his high-pitched voice to his awkward personality, his arrogance, and his passion for writing. Acting does not get much better than this.
Catherine Keener also does a remarkable job in her portrayal of Harper Lee. She serves as a perfect foil to Capote, pulling him back down to Earth while his infatuation with his work keeps pulling him away. It is also rather interesting to see Harper Lee as a relatively unknown author in the early '60s; those who have read To Kill A Mockingbird will be downright giddy during scenes where people, unbeknownst of her future success, laugh at her new "Bird Book."
The real success of the film lies in Capote's relationship with Perry Smith, one of the two men who committed the horrific murders in the small Kansas town. Played out in a series of interviews in Smith's jail cell, Capote struggles with his desire to finish his book (in other words, see Smith be executed) and continue being friends with the misunderstood murderer. The relationship is as complex as they come, making for what is perhaps the most brutally honest climax in recent years. The line between what is right and wrong has never been so abrasively blurred.
Okay, so I lied - it is about all of those things. And it is masterful in every way imaginable. This is cinema at its finest.
The film dives so deep into each previously mentioned topic that there is enough meat to feed all the critics and all the Academy members alike. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who portrays Truman Capote in the film, is going to get the Oscar for Best Actor. No bout adoubt it. The film also has a very good shot at Best Picture, Best Director (Bennett Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener, who portrays Harper Lee), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Dan Futterman). Yes, the film is that damn good.
Why do I defend Capote so adamantly, you may ask? There are many reasons, but the main one can be summed up in a name: Philip Seymour Hoffman. Never heard of him before? Well, you will from now on. While he has been in a number of high profile films including Cold Mountain, Red Dragon, Almost Famous, and The Big Lebowski (the list goes on), this is undoubtedly the role for which he will be remembered. Hoffman portrays all of the idiosyncrasies of Truman Capote to perfection, from his high-pitched voice to his awkward personality, his arrogance, and his passion for writing. Acting does not get much better than this.
Catherine Keener also does a remarkable job in her portrayal of Harper Lee. She serves as a perfect foil to Capote, pulling him back down to Earth while his infatuation with his work keeps pulling him away. It is also rather interesting to see Harper Lee as a relatively unknown author in the early '60s; those who have read To Kill A Mockingbird will be downright giddy during scenes where people, unbeknownst of her future success, laugh at her new "Bird Book."
The real success of the film lies in Capote's relationship with Perry Smith, one of the two men who committed the horrific murders in the small Kansas town. Played out in a series of interviews in Smith's jail cell, Capote struggles with his desire to finish his book (in other words, see Smith be executed) and continue being friends with the misunderstood murderer. The relationship is as complex as they come, making for what is perhaps the most brutally honest climax in recent years. The line between what is right and wrong has never been so abrasively blurred.