Capote (contains spoilers)
 

http://www.spoiler4.blogger.com.br/CAPOTE%20(2005).jpg

saw it over the weekend. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a favorite of mine and although he delivers a credible performance, i think he excels when playing less eccentric characters. i found the character of capote a little difficult to engage, hard to access.

it was somewhat interesting to see the film didn't shy away from capote's less than admirable motivations. although i felt the movie ended where the real journey of this character began. just as he's faced with who he is, we get a summation of the remaining decades of his life. the content of those years sound far more interesting than the film we just watched. this film was a first act; a beginning. imo.

anyone else see this?

http://www.gawker.com/news/capote_hoffman.jpg

Did they deal with that quote that cause Hollywood to basicly shun him? For the life of me I can't remember exactly what he said, but I do recall that it was probably the truest thing I ever heard said about Hollywood.

not that i recall. it dealt briefly with hollywood. he attended the premiere of to kill a mockingbird. what was the quote? this?

"It's a scientific fact. For every year a person lives in Hollywood, they lose two points of their IQ."

Since Capote himself was indeed "difficult to engage, hard to access" (he knew this himself - it's exactly why he had Harper Lee go with him to Kansas as a sort of buffer between himself and the "common folk") your comment is really praise for what the filmmakers have achieved.

As for where the movie ended, keep in mind that this is not intended as a standard bio-pic. When I saw this at the New York Film Festival, both Hoffman and the director participated in the Q&A, and made it quite clear that the movie was about Capote's journey to Kansas which, much to his surprise became a journey of uncomfortable self-discovery. We begin seeing Capote in full charge as he entertains his cocktail party friends with an almost obnoxious self-assurance, and travel with him as he discovers layers of his own personality that completely reshape him. The movie ended when the story being told was over.

I want to see this.

yes, they definitely deserve praise for capturing the surface of this character. but there were opportunities to expose layers underneath, that i felt, were missed.

i felt as though the movie ended mere minutes after that self-discovery began. i thought the filmmakers could have gone deeper into Capote's character, bringing to the surface the mystery of this person, where it could be shared and better understood. and my instinct is that the opportunity to do this followed the story they chose to follow.

That's not the one, I'm sure. It was something he said much later in his life so it probably isn't in the film.

I wish I could remember exactly what it was he said.

this looks pretty amazing. phil hoffman always delivers

Totally dissapointing. Bland, boring and totally lifeless. The movie looked nice, but was an incredibly slow ride.

I think the fact that Capote (at least in the film) comes off as a total ass doesn't help matters. He's incredibly annoying, ridiculous, selfish and a drama queen. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of my favorite actors, and though he does a good job, the character is just very poor. I did really like the guy who played one of the killers though. Too bad the characters relationship with Capote managed to be both dull and silly at the same time
C-

That's what I liked most about the film - that they didn't sugarcoat the fact that Capote was an arrogant ass in real life.

I think it's one of the best films of the year. The script is absolutely stunning - making Capote as mercurial and as ethically murky as he should have been portrayed. It's not a standard biopic at all - in fact, it's a murder mystery where the murderer is less mysterious than the actual "detective" (in this case, the writer), and that to me is incredibly refreshing.

I thought that Hoffman was very good, and pretty much the whole show. Keener didn't have much to do (I don't think she had more than 15 lines of dialogue), same thing with Cooper, who I thought was wasted.

I never could get a grip on why Capote was so fascinated with Smith either. Was it personal attraction? Him being the key to finishing his book and thus a gold mine (and the key to Capote's future)? Fascination with Smith as a diamond in the rough (he sketches well and has a vocabulary that indicates that he's read a bit)? Maybe if Collins Jr. had been more charismatic, I would have had a better feel his and Hoffman's scenes together.

Well, I'm not that analytical about these things, but Hoffman's performance was worth seeing, the period details looked good, but the overall dramatic structure was pretty weak. I wonder if anyone who wasn't familiar with the real Capote from talk shows in the 70s and 80s would find Hoffman's performance as interesting, or just think it was outlandish for no reason.

Hoffman was excellent, and the film was a powerful, emotionally draining journey. I have never seen so many people in the audience as deathly quiet as they were for the last 20 minutes of the film.

Pretty good stuff. I don't know much about Capote and what he was like, i.e. mannerisms, voice, etc. I found Hoffman's character a bit annoying, but I just assume that his portrayal of Capote is probably pretty dead on, so it's a great performance. For someone like myself who didn't know much about the circumstances around the writing of "In Cold Blood", this was a great eye opener. Now I gotta go read the book.

I was lucky enough to see this last weekend as it's playing in extremely limited release. Definitely in my top 3 of the year. Hoffman, who's always a favorite, is excellent. This role will lead him to his first Oscar nomination (Best Actor) and hopefully a victory. I thought the script was well written. Had alot of witty moments mixed in with the dramatic part of the film.

The movie is doing well, grossing over $5 million and the buzz is there.

Finally saw this film today, and I finally have a Best Actor candidate to get behind in the Oscar races this year. Hoffman is amazing in this role. He simply disappears and it's just Capote on the screen, and he is able to convey the emotions and turmoil he feels and readily wears on his sleeve at the trying times during the "research" phase for "In Cold Blood".

I thought the pacing was pitch-perfect, and this film about how "In Cold Blood" came to be was very interesting and makes for a suitable companion to Capote's book.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

Kind of eh for me. Looked MARVELOUS, and was an interesting journey. But overall, the middle of the road aspect of EVERYTHING in the movie left me hanging. I typically respect the notion of nonjudgement, but it felt wrong in this movie in many ways.

Hoffman was good, but I don't see how he compares to Phoenix in Walk the Line. I haven't seen Brokeback or Munich yet, but Joquin's performance is the best I've seen in a rather lackluster year. No wonder they are pushing Cinderella Man again, despite the inital failing, I think it could pick up steam by attrition, because simply nothing I've personally seen looks like that Oscar Bulldozer(though Kong and Munich is a big battle to watch based on early reviews).

I did LOVE the Keener/Hoffman stuff in the film, and not to go all Ebert, but I couldn't help thinking just exploring the dynamic of their relationship might have made a more interesting movie. They had great chemistry and she's always been a wonderful mystery to me, I would have loved to seen their time, the work on a masterwork like "Mockingbird" and then the vanish into obscurity.

What a FANTASTIC film.

It is a step ahead of BBM (my #2) - because Capote's screenplay is more tight and better paced.

PSH is truly stunning and the film haunted me for days after I saw it up in New York last week. From to the final moments, you could hear a pin drop.

I've already pre-ordered the dvd - which is something I don't usually do.

Great movie, Hoffman owns the Oscar this year.

I was disappointed with the movie. Hoffman was great, but I thought that the movie was very overrated. Personally, I don't think that it belongs in the best picture category for the oscars - I thought that Walk The Line should have taken that spot.

Saw it for the second time this weekend. Amazing, powerful film.

I saw a trailer for it a few months ago and it really peeked my intrests. It wasn't playing anywhere near me so i was kinda out of luck. I just saw a tv spot for it on Sunday saying it was nominated for an oscar, so i'm hoping that at least Baxter is showing it.

Loved it. Great performance and very interesting subject.

Absolutely dead on Capote by Hoffman. As I said in another thread, I can't imagine how Heath Ledger, although a fine performance, could pull an Oscar out of a race with Hoffman for this film. I can't wait for the DVD release and will be reading In Cold Blood in the meantime.

I finally saw this and thought it was one of the best movies of the year.