Today Robyn and I headed down to Turner Field for the Braves Winter Fan Fest in what could only best be described as blustery conditions… Strange weather, mid 60’s one day then 40’s the next… On the way home we stopped off to see the highly acclaimed, and indeed Oscar nominated Capote.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the plot revolves around Truman Capote (excellently played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, a true story of multiple murders in small town Kansas. A pretty dark story from the start, it delves into Capotes relationship with one of the killers, and the conflict that brought about as he basically had to wait for the killers to die in order to finish his self proclaimed masterpiece…
What we got from the adaptation of these events was that Capote was basically manipulating one of the killers, Perry Smith, into telling his events of the night of the crime, aiding and assisting him with the help of lawyers to get stays of excecutions, but as the years (about 5 or so) went by it became clear he couldn’t finish this great american novel while the killers remained alive which drove him to a mental breakdown, or near enough. The classic case of his ultimate triumph being his eventual downfall…
I found this to be a great movie, Hoffman is superb as Truman Capote, and even though it’s only a shade over 90 minutes, it doesnt feel rushed in anyway. I know all the hype is on Brokeback Mountain for the Oscars, but if this doesn’t pick up at least 1 award (preferably best actor for Hoffman) I’ll be most disappointed. It’s well worth a view, but as it’s been on general release for some time it’s probably best to wait on the DVD release next month.