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Capote
Truman Capote knew what was coming. A novelist by trade who was better known as a tireless self-promoter, he had the Warholian ability to see a not-so-distant future in which just about anybody could propel themselves to worldwide fame if they just bent the right person's ear. Paris Hilton, Mary Kay Letourneau, Kevin Federline — who knows where they would be without the culture of celebrity that Capote so actively took part in creating?
Actor Dan Futterman asked himself the same question after he read Janet Malcolm's 1990 book, The Journalist and the Murderer, and Gerald Clarke's exhaustive 1988 Capote: A Biography in quick succession. Intrigued by the cunning relationship forged between Capote and convicted killer Perry Smith during the writer's six years researching the book In Cold Blood, Futterman set out to dramatize the series of events that led to Blood's massive success — and Capote's ultimate implosion. ''It was utterly intense,'' says Futterman of the connection between Capote and Smith. ''There was caring and love, but there was also a mercenary quality to it. Truman saw Perry as his ticket to enormous literary achievement.''
The writer got what he sought — but at what cost? Capote, which boasts a career-best performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman, sharp direction from Bennett Miller, and strong supporting turns from Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., and Chris Cooper, is unforgiving in its portrayal of the author. The brutal honesty leaves viewers reeling by the time the film reaches its sad (and, some would say, hopeless) final act. Even Capote's cast and crew felt unnerved by its blistering verity. Says Futterman: ''Anybody in this kind of business — whether acting, writing, or directing — who denies that ambition, public recognition, and respect drive them is lying to themselves. That's something that everyone who worked on this movie could relate to.''
