Capote misses Oscar honor
In the early morning of Nov. 14, 1959, a gruesome murder of an entire family occurs in Halcomb, Kansas. To cover the breaking news story came famous author Truman Capote. Transfixed by the murders, and later by the murderers themselves, Capote takes it upon himself to write his next novel about the killings.
Thus, In Cold Blood is written. To this day, the novel is amazingly popular, and is easily the most well known of Capote’s works.
The movie “Capote” follows Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), as he slowly forces the truth from the two killers so that he can finish his novel. However, he slowly forms a friendship with the two killers. Unfortunately, only the execution of the two men will allow Capote to complete his novel.
“Capote” was nominated for “Best Motion Picture of the Year” at the most recent Academy Awards, where it lost to “Crash.” The film was quiet and slowly paced, though it still never lingers for too long where it shouldn’t. There were still several points where the plot seemed to crawl along at a snail’s pace. The movie is almost two hours long, though it sometimes seems to be considerably longer.
Hoffman acted magnificently in his starring role as Capote, and was awarded with the “Best Actor” Oscar at the Academy Awards. His performance was powerful, and his concern for the prisoners when their health conflicted with the best interests of his novel was sickeningly enjoyable to watch.
Though well acted, the character of Capote has to be one of the most annoying characters ever committed to film. His voice is annoying from his first line to his last, and his mannerisms often grate at the nerves all the time he is on screen. Still, it accurately portrays the real Truman Capote.
The performances of Clifton Collins Jr. and Mark Pellegrino as the murderers are frightening, but at the same time, they are still human enough that the viewer is able to feel sympathy for them. Their story is pitiable, though their reasons for committing their crime are terrible and ironic.
The character of Capote and the slow pacing of this movie aside, the film is a highly enjoyable look at what went into the writing of one of the most well known books of American literature. The anguish that Capote felt as he waited to be able to complete the book, comboed with how he still cares for the two men who are contributing to the story, make for a sad story of personal remorse and regret.
The movie gets three paws out of five for being well acted and gripping from start to finish, though incredibly slow in getting there.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Mar 24 2006. Filed under Other.
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