Capote
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Review #35 of 365
Film: Capote [R] 109 minutes
WIP: 1st time $5 + 2nd time $11.50 = $10.50
When 2nd Seen: 14 February 2006
Where Viewed: AMC Theatres Deerbrook 24, Humble, TX
Time: 9:35 p.m.
Review Dedicated To: David G. of Toledo, OH
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DVD | soundtrack |
As luck would have it, I have now seen every single movie showing that the AMC 24. Every single movie. I have to admit that is a weird feeling. Right now, these are the movies playing: Annapolis, Big Momma's House 2, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Curious George, Final Destination 3, Firewall, Fun with Dick and Jane, Glory Road, Good Night, and Good Luck; Hoodwinked, Last Holiday, The Matador, Munich, Nanny McPhee, The New World, The Pink Panther, Something New, Underworld: Evolution, Walk the Line, When a Stranger Calls. That is 23 different movies. Seen them. Been there, done that. Three of these films, however, I saw before the start of MovieEveryDay.com. Therefore, I decided today to see Capote for the second time, and this time write and publish a review. My first screening of Capote occurred just shortly after it was released at the Landmark Egyptian Theater in Seattle, WA. As anyone who paid attention closely to the W.I.P. Scale for the past month you will notice that I originally awarded the film a mere $5. Today, I would give it $11.25. The reason for the upgrade? Well, it seems as though a great many of my perceived negatives—that Philip Seymour Hoffman mumbles his way through the movie for example, must have been sound problems at the L.E.T. Also, I’m not sure why, but the movie just seemed so much more colorful and alive this time around. Must have been projection problems at the L.E.T. Normally, by the way, I love Landmark Theaters as a chain!
Back to Capote. Let me break this down bit by bit. First, Philip Seymour Hoffman, when you can hear and understand him, does an amazing job with bringing Truman Capote to life. I probably would have ranked him a bit higher in my mind had this been my first screening of the film. Next, the screenplay, adapted from Gerald Clarke’s book of the same name by screen writer Dan Futterman, focuses nearly entirely on Truman Capote’s life during his time of writing In Cold Blood. The first time I saw Capote, I wished that the film had explored more of his life. This time around, I was very satisfied just to focus on this segment of his life as to better understand who Mr. Truman Capote really was. I noted, for example, that In Cold Blood was the last complete novel he ever wrote, yet in writing it he virtually altered the way people wrote true crime novels and blurred the line between fact and fiction. The film / story really captures the magnitude of how popular Truman Capote was and how important people found his work at the time. First time around, I didn’t get what Truman was up to in his relationship with the convicted killer, Perry Smith (also brilliantly portrayed by Clifton Collins Jr.). Did he feel sorry for him? Did he love him? Was he trying to live vicariously through him? Was he just using him? What? Clearly he lied to him over and over, and yet, when it came down to his final minutes of life, Capote was there “as a friend” to see him off. This time around, it all makes a lot more sense. You can better track the evolution of the relationship. Capote comes across as more genuine.
In either case, both times I absolutely loved Catherine Keener as Nell Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird and Truman Capote’s lifelong friend). Ms Keener is truly inspirational as Harper Lee. I think a movie about her life would be equally if not more illuminating—there’s one of those ‘free’ ideas that I keep talking about that I’m willing to give you, Hollywood.
Well, Capote has had time to foment in my mind, I feel it is an excellent movie, and it only gets better as it ages.
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