JohnnyLee1
Couldn't watch beyond first 30 mins. I was enjoying Toby Jones's portrayal but I've never known a movie to chop and change so much. So many short scenes and changes of setting! Including interviews/talking heads for an unexplained reason all in the same setting. Were they for TV? Seemed they were being named for us not some TV audience. Confusing. And who were these people anyhow? In some cases the names didn't help at all. Must say, all that attempt at "sophistication" gave me the irrits anyhow. Maybe these were the true characters of Capote's society. I also find it hard to fathom the eternal interest in In Cold Blood. Capote did not invent True Crime nor the nonfiction "novel." I'll never know if the movie improved or not.
imogen.chiv
I was quite happy to watch this film again, some films are like that. Getting more from it, a second time around. Actors were hand picked, absolutely. Not that you noticed them acting because they all did their stuff seamlessly. Of course it's no crime to have a voice that is low, dead, and no lilting tones whatsoever to speak of, but Gwyneth Paltrow as a nightclub singer is a magnificent piece of acting. She really does manage to convince that she is part of a nightclub setup. I thought it was a little too indulgent when she "forgets herself" and the band seems to know but hey ho the director must have liked it. Toby Jones was a revelation, fantastic, as Capote. Though I should have known, he has been great in other work too, including some Charles Dickens stuff. Sigourney Weaver, Sandra Bullock, I loved those two ! It all seemed to be right in that era, those times. I have a photo of Truman Capote dancing with Marilyn Monroe in a New York nightclub. She is looking away and Truman is hanging on to her hands for dear life! because she brought something to him too. He could show her off and she could meet new people to the ones in California, having had Daryl Zanuck shout at her :"You'll never work again !" So they were both happy to be seen around town. It's uncanny how much Toby Jones managed to look just like him. And the personna he put across, he was right into it. It was a joy to watch and to follow the high jinks. There was some humour too even though it could be a sad subject. I feel he will rightly be proud of the result.
cllrdr-1
Bennett Miller's "Capote" with Phillip Seymour Hoffman got their first, leaving Doug McGrath's "Infamous" to suffer in comparison. Hoffman is superb and deserved his Oscar. But Jones, while not as skilled a performer (his Capote is more an impersonation than a character study) has more to deal with -- particularly as regards his romance with Perry Smith (a devastating Daniel Craig) I quite like the execution scene in "Infamous" particularly for its depiction of Capote overcome with sadness and running out of the chamber -- not willing to watch Smith die. But what's most markedly different about the two films is the way "Infamous" depicts Capote's New York social set: Babe Paley, Diana Vreeland, etc. They of course figured in what was to have been his next work "Answered Prayers." But when a chapter from that proposed magnum opus about New York society, "La Cote Basque: 1965" was published in "Esquire" magazine it caused a scandal that lost Capote all his friend. "Infamous" only mentions the book's title and notes he didn't write anything more substantial after "In Cold Blood." That's because of "La Cote Basque:1965." Therefore there's a THIRD Truman Capote film to be made about his unraveling. It's quite a story. The "swans" (the glamorous wealthy women he catered to) toss him out. He descends into drink, drugs and "Studio 54." Andy Warhol, who Capote had dismissed years before as an undesirable "fan" comes to his aide -- giving him the pages of his "Inter/View" magazine to write whatever he wants. He writes a few things there, notably "Handcarved Coffins" -- another true crime murder story that's even optioned by Hollywood (never made alas) But it's all over. His breakdown on the "Stanley Siegel Show" is indelible, and would make a great climax for a biopic of Capote's collapse. Anyone up for this? It could be really something.
Enoch Sneed
I first saw 'Capote' and Philip Seymour Hoffman knocked me out, truly, I thought he was great. I had never even heard of this version until I found the DVD for sale in a second-hand shop and was intrigued to see what it made of the same basic events.Now I am a whole-hearted 'Infamous' fan, while still paying my respects to 'Capote' which seems to have higher production values and better cinematography (all those beautiful shots of the Kansas - or is that Canadian? - plains). Why? Because this film does not just show Truman Capote as lying (no title for the book, "I've hardly written a word"), selfish, manipulative, consumed with self-pity when he can't get the ending to his book, and ultimately ashamed of himself for wanting Perry Smith to hang.Here Truman Capote sets out to write his masterpiece, and slowly comes to realise that he really cares about one of the people involved. He never expected writing a book about others would have an impact on himself, that the society lifestyle he loved would show itself to be shallow and unsatisfying in the face of the brutality of murder and execution. This is where Toby Jones scores over PSH, in my view. He shows more depth and a fuller view of Capote's personality and feelings as the case drags on through the courts. His Capote seems to be asking himself: 'What do I really feel about this? How do I face the reality of it?' Another strength of this version is Sandra Bullock's Harper Lee. You can see why Capote needed her common-sense and friendship, while he could still feel he was her superior in terms of output.If you have seen 'Capote', do watch this too, it is well worth it.
AD
