Movie Review: Capote

Capote

As awards season gets well underway (Academy Award® nominations are due to be announced at the end of January), I've been gearing up myself to make sure that I see as many of the nominated (and likely to be nominated) films as possible. After the recent Golden Globe winners were announced, it was abundantly clear that Capote had to be near the top of my list. Though Capote isn't showing in wide release, it was featured at a theatre in a city near me and I decided it was now or never, and made the trip.

Truman Capote (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) was a well known — and well regarded — author in the 1940's and 1950's. His fiction ("Breakfast at Tiffany's" among his offerings) had made him famous, and as such he could write largely as he pleased. What he found inspiring one day in 1959 was a story he found in the New York Times of a horrific murder that took place in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas.

Capote and his childhood friend and sometime research assistant, Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) — who became a famous writer in her own right with her Pulitzer prize-winning "To Kill a Mockingbird" — traveled by train to Kansas to learn more. It was Capote's intent, he told his publisher (William Shawn), to talk to the people of Holcomb to find out how such a tragedy was affecting them all. It did not, he assured the publisher, even matter if the murderer or murderers was ever caught.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), on the other hand, cared very much if the crime was solved. As such, Capote's attitude didn't endear him to the lawman. Fortunately for Capote's research, Dewey's wife Marie (Amy Ryan) was a fan and he gained some entry into the investigation accordingly. Meanwhile, Lee's manner endeared her to many including some students who were able to offer significant insight into the crime and its aftermath.

Though Capote's intentions may have been precisely as he described, when two suspects were captured he immediately felt the need to broaden his scope by learning more about the men. Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) were interesting case studies for Capote if nothing else. But the deeper Capote got into their past and present, the more their underlying motivations mattered to him. He also felt a reluctant kinship with one of them. Most important of all, he was determined to discover what really happened in that Kansas farmhouse on November 14, 1959.

In his zeal to get more and more of the story and to write a book Capote himself said was going to be so good that sometimes it took his breath away, he also alienated some of his nearest and dearest friends including his partner, Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood). Still, no matter the sacrifices, Capote can't finish his writing and let go of his obsession until he, himself, knows how the story will end. And with his bizarre friendship with one of the two accused men, he spares no effort — nor any personal or professional relationships — in his attempts to do just that.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. I'd been pulling for Heath Ledger whose performance in Brokeback Mountain is nothing short of amazing. But now that I've seen Hoffman in action as the star of Capote, I have to say the award was well deserved. He's absolutely astounding as the small man with the big talent and the even bigger ego that was Truman Capote. Despite the brilliance of his performance, Catherine Keener holds her own as the ever-patient friend and confidant; Chris Cooper — an Oscar® winner himself — and his Agent Dewey is just gruff enough even as he's clearly far too personally involved in the case.

The direction is beautifully handled with performances that are extraordinarily emotional at times but without ever being over the top, and the editing is literally flawless. Scenes of the bare windswept Kansas plains are interspersed with close-ups of the lives of those who live there; smoke-filled parties juxtapose with stark jail cells. The script is wonderful — funny, frightening, and horribly, unbearably sad — and moves along briskly in a movie that runs just over 90 minutes in length. The penultimate scenes are, as Capote believed his book would be, enough to take your breath away — and they did.

Sure, the moviemakers had a really good story to work with, one which needed little if any fictional embellishment (to their credit, from some research after the fact I learned that the historical accuracy of the film holds up pretty well), and it seemed a lock that this would be a good movie. It's also true that every year, there are some few very, very good films released. But nearly every year, even among the best, there's one film that stands out. For me, Capote is that one, and I can't recommend it highly enough (that the movie wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe along with its star is, in my mind, a huge oversight).

POLITICAL NOTES: There are some prejudices, common enough in the late 1950's and early 1960's, depicted in the film, but they're not emphasized. In fact, Capote's patently obvious homosexuality isn't addressed, either. If there's any item of note here, it's that neither of these things are emphasized — nor should they be. The story is elsewhere. At a time when homosexuality is, at times, focused on purely for the sake of showing a filmmaker isn't afraid of that focus, it's refreshing to see a movie where it exists but it just doesn't matter. And it doesn't.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Capote is rated R for "some violent images and brief strong language." The images, while brief, are graphic. But just as importantly, the subject matter itself doesn't lend itself well to entertainment for children and most wouldn't find it remotely interesting anyway. For the intelligent child of about age 14 and up, though, Capote offers a glimpse into history and a look at some fascinating human foibles, flaws, gifts, and motivations. And for all who enjoy a good drama, it doesn't get any better than Capote.

Special Notes:
To Kill A Mockingbird

Earlier this year, I saw Capote. It is easily one of the best movies of this — or any other — year. As a result of seeing Capote, I became interested in reading Truman Capote's infamous bookIn Cold Blood as well as Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird.

A couple of months ago, I found a used copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, and thought, "Why not?" I bought it, and promptly fell in love with it. The story is so interesting and moving, and the narrative so brilliantly written, that I couldn't put it down. (To illustrate just how impressive this is, you should know that I normally read little else but science fiction and non-fiction.) The other day, a friend of mine raved about the classic movie based on the book, so I thought I'd take a look at that, too. And friends, let me tell you: To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic for a reason!

Gregory Peck, who plays Atticus Finch, won a well-deserved Oscar® for his performance. Mary Badham, who made her acting debut playing the precocious six year-old Scout, was also nominated for an Oscar® (she lost to another child, Patty Duke, who was singled out for her performance as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker). The incomparable Robert Duvall made his movie debut in To Kill a Mockingbird, playing the reclusive "Boo" Radley. But none of these actors would have been as wonderful as they were if it weren't for the fact that the book was adapted to the screen so faithfully and so well (the screenplay also won an Oscar® that year).

Not long ago, The American Film Institute voted Atticus Finch as the greatest movie hero of all time. This year, The American Film Institute put To Kill a Mocking Bird in second place on its list of 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. The film deserves those honors at least as much as it warranted the 11 Oscar® nominations it received back in 1963.

There are no chase scenes, and no special effects. There's no graphic violence, no sex or nudity, and no bad language. The plot, though relatively rich, is simply presented even though it retains its deep emotional impact. It is, in short, a film which relies solely on very good acting telling an even better story, and the resulting whole far exceeds the sum of even its most considerable parts.

Capote was, indeed, a terrific film. But I wonder if, 45 years from now, people will still be watching it and declaring it brilliant. I'm betting that, whatever happens to Capote in movie history, people will still be watching To Kill a Mockingbird — and yes, still calling it one of the best movies ever made. If you get the chance to rent a copy (it is, believe it or not, out on DVD and includes some very nice extras to boot), do it. And then sit down with the whole famiily to watch. You'll be glad you did.