[Dave Hackman]

This movie describes the events Truman Capote went through in order to write his first non-fiction book In Cold Blood. This book hit the stands in 1965 and allegedly caused quite a stir by delivering a captivating fiction-like account of an innocent family’s murder by two young ex-cons in search of hidden cash.

I have never read the book, seen the movie or even heard of this person before seeing this film. That being said I had no problem enjoying this because Capote played by Philip Seymour Hoffman is such an eccentric interesting character. His voice is very unusual and does take some getting used to but after a while, it just becomes one of the many interesting traits that make him memorable.

I am unable to tell whether this is a true representation of Capote but I can say that Phillip brings forth a character with many dimensions and moods, none of which ever give the impression of being phony or manufactured.

Aside from Hoffman’s performance the creation of the novel is interesting to see unfold. Capote begins collecting data from the arresting police department with the help of his notoriety, which once exhausted leads to a personal relationship with one of the killers. Conflicts arise when Capote’s initial closeness becomes a disadvantage in his effort to finish his book and reestablish his sanity.

B

[Nick C.]

Interesting film, great to see Hoffman getting a starring role here and there. I'm glad this wasn't your traditional bio-pic, it was more akin to a psychological thriller

Clifton Collins, the actor who played Perry Smith, was superb as well.

[Joe D]

Man, I've watched the trailer about ten times for this movie and I really want to see it, but it is playing nowhere near me.

Hoffman looks like he is doing a great job again.

So I'm patiently waiting for the DVD.

[Cameron Yee]

Gonna go check it out after work today!

[Eric Peterson]

I too want to see this badly. Is this ever going to be on more screens? It's only in 3 theaters in downtown Chicago right now. I understand that this won't get hundreds of screens around my area, but films of this size typically get 10-20 screens which means something within reasonable driving distance. Neither IMDB nor Fandango list anything about date for going wide, they simply say "Released September 30th"

Meanwhile SAW2 is on a bazillion screens.

[Nathan V]

Outstanding film that should guarantee Hoffman an oscar. Starts out with several rather funny moments and a generally lighter tone before delving into deep psychological craziness. I don't know who the director is but he has a terrific compositional sense. Excellent portrait of a man and his book, and how the two work on each other. For some reason I also really loved Catherine Keener in this movie.

[Cameron Yee]

I don't live in a big town (about 140k), so I was honestly a bit surprised it made it here so quickly or as quickly as it took from me hearing about it to having it show up (about three weeks I think).

[Cameron Yee]

Quote:

For some reason I also really loved Catherine Keener in this movie.

Well, for some of us the reason would be it's Catherine Keener!

[Ravi K]

Saw this last week and thought it was an excellent film about Truman Capote's obsession with the Clutter murder story. He is fascinated for a few reasons, which I won't get into, since few people have seen it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (I almost wrote "Truman Capote") will get an Oscar nomination for sure. He's absolutely superb.

[Cameron Yee]

It took about three minutes for me to adjust to hearing that voice from Hoffman, but then it was smooth sailing.

I think what was great about Catherine Keener's performance is that you can see where Atticus Finch and To Kill A Mockingbird came from based on it. Though not exactly Capote's "moral compass" she's often this silent presence of perspective and ethics. Yet it doesn't feel like she's judging him - even at one point when she makes an incredibly direct statement about his true motivations. If it hadn't been explained how the two met, one would wonder why or how they ever became friends.

I've always enjoyed Hoffman's work, but this was just on another level.

[Michael Reuben]

Quote:

Is this ever going to be on more screens?

It's a classic "platform" release, relying on word-of-mouth. Right now it's in 183 theaters (according to Box Office Mojo). If it continues to perform well, look for a bigger expansion shortly (as with Shopgirl and Good Night, and Good Luck, both of which expanded hugely last weekend).

The movie's a hard one to market, because (as exemplified by the first post in this thread) Capote is no longer the household name he once was. But Hoffman and Keener are magnificent (as is Chris Cooper, quietly brilliant as usual), and the subject matter is inherently fascinating, which is part of why Capote's book became such a huge success.

I would have thought it impossible to find a "dark underbelly" to the pitch-black story of In Cold Blood, but this film manages to do it. I saw the film over a month ago, and I'm still thinking about some of the scenes between Capote and Perry, which are very disturbing.

M.

[Eric Peterson]

It's a classic "platform" release, relying on word-of-mouth. Right now it's in 183 theaters (according to Box Office Mojo). If it continues to perform well, look for a bigger expansion shortly (as with Shopgirl and Good Night, and Good Luck, both of which expanded hugely last weekend).

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