A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Truman Capote
Catherine Keener
Harper Lee
Clifton Collins Jr.
Perry Smith
Bruce Greenwood
Jack Dunphy
Bob Balaban
William Shawn
Mark Pellegrino
Dick Hickock
Marshall Bell
Warden Marshall Krutch
Amy Ryan
Marie Dewey
Bess Meyer
Linda Murchak
Chris Cooper
Alvin Dewey
Allie Mickelson
Laura Kinney
Craig Archibald
Christopher
Bronwen Coleman
Barbara
Kate Shindle
Rose
David Wilson Barnes
Grayson
Michael J. Burg
Williams
Kwesi Ameyaw
Porter
Andrew Farago
Car Rental Agent
Kelci Stephenson
Nancy Clutter
C. Ernst Harth
Lowell Lee Andrews
Kjartan Hewitt
Danny Burke
Nazariy Demkowicz
Paul Dewey
Director
Bennett Miller
Novel
Gerald Clarke
Screenplay
Dan Futterman
August 7, 2023
7
Actor or mimic or both? Philip Seymour Hoffman certainly delivers a plausible and captivating portrayal of the eponymous acclaimed novelist in the late 1950s. He is researching his latest novel when he alights on news of the brutal murder of a Kansas family. Pretty unscrupulously, this rather unfulfilled writer decides this is a rich vein for him to exploit, and so using just about every (legal) means at his disposal manages to ingratiate himself with friends of the victims and then once the police apprehend two suspects, he does the same with Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jnr.). He intends to use the template of this case and the true nature of the personalities to construct a novel - but one based in fact not fiction. What ensues here is quite a cleverly crafted look at just how the shrewd and intelligent man uses his intellect to manipulate the scenario so as to provide him what what he wants, when he wants it - but it also exposes his slightly controlling character to some fault lines. He begins to form a relationship, of sorts, with his quarry - he has a fondness that compromises his objectivity to his story; the accused serves to begin to humanise this rather aloof and frankly quite arrogant figure. There is a distinct power shift here. It's a tightly cast effort this, with most of the emphasis on the efforts of Hoffman, a strong performance from Collins and a useful supporting contribution from Catherine Keener as the foil/conduit for much of her friend Capote's thoughts and behaviour. The style of the production, the attention to detail and the Mychael Danna score all add to the richness of this, admittedly quite speculative, drama that shines a bit of a light not just into what made this man tick, but also just what made the USA tick too.