Capote

I recently saw "Capote" with my sister, so I'll share with you what I thought of it. The movie "Capote" stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote, the famous American author. The movie spans the period of time that Capote writes his non-fiction book, "In Cold Blood". "In Cold Blood" is about the brutal murder of the Clutter family in a rural Kansas town (I haven't actually read the book though I want to now after seeing this movie). Capote reads about the death of the Clutters in the newspaper and the articles piques his curiousity. Capote travels with his friend Harper Lee (author of "To Kill A Mockingbird") to Kansas to gather information about the Clutter murders. In the process, he develops a close relationship with the killers that spans a number of years.

I went into this movie with high expectations. My roommate's father said he thought the movie was great and the movie had received very good reviews by a number of critics. "Capote" fell short of my expectations -- the movie was decent, but it was quite slow at times. It also seemed as though the explanation of what actually happened was rushed after we waited nearly two hours to hear it. The plot of the movie didn't give me a full picture of the killers and the murder. Perhaps this is why I want to read "In Cold Blood" now. After reading the Wikipedia entry for Truman Capote, I think that the movie portrays Perry Smith to be one way and the book another (according to Wikipedia). What was portrayed really well in the movie was the inner conflict that Capote had with wanting to finish his book and wanting to help the killers. How this conflict affected him was also illustrated very well. Philip Seymour Hoffman did a good job (not great job) playing Truman Capote. I think he deserves to be nominated for an Oscar for his potrayal, but I'm not sure he deserves to win. He might though since I think Oscars often go to people who play characters who are out of the ordinary, so the fact that Truman Capote was especially unique helps him.

Thing of interest to me: I learned from the Wikipedia entry that Capote often boasted that he wrote significant portions of "To Kill A Mockingbird". Others have mentioned they believed him.