This was one of the few Oscar nominated films that caught my interest this year so I decided to check it out. As I expected, the film was excellent and completely deserving of the nominations it received.

The plot of the film is not the life story of Truman Capote. When the film begins, Capote is already a well established, well respected writer. The film instead chronicles his prison interviews with Perry Smith, one of two men who invaded a family household and murdered everyone inside. The interviews would eventually lead to Capote writing what would become the book of his career, In Cold Blood.

Capote is an extremely character driven film. It doesn't focus on the things people do but why they do them. Therefore, it makes sense that the film would be filled with great acting. Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper, and Clifton Collins Jr. offer terrific acting in supporting roles but all of them combined are simply buried by Philip Seymour Hoffman. I mean, he is Capote in this. Not only does he capture his look, voice, and mannerisms but also his charisma and ability to charm people as well as the pain and suffering he endures throughout the film. His performance is just too good.

Like Mystic River a few years ago, Capote is perhaps the darkest film featured at the Oscars this year. Naturally, the tone is dark and the murder sets a dark cloud over the whole film, the truly depressing nature of the film is revealed through the interviews in which Perry reveals the dark events of his past, which fascinate Capote as he himself endured darkness in his past as well. The film has a strong theme about being misunderstood. Capote doesn't see Perry as the monster public sees him as. He sees him as misunderstood just as Capote himself is misunderstood. To make matters even bleaker, the film also explores Capote's obsession with writing his book and calls into question whether or not his friendship with Perry is indeed genuine. Capote's character is incredibly complex and, like I said, Hoffman is able to master that complexity.

I don't know what else to say. For a change, it's the actor that drives it and not the plot or the director. All in all, excellent film. Highly recommended.

I want to see this so bad. One of my favorite podcasts on iTunes covered this film and only said good things about it. It's at the top of my Netflix queue.

I found this to be quite depressing. Capote, a brilliant writer, was also a self obsessed liar and parasite. I found it very hard to empathize with him and it didn't surprise me to learn that he never wrote again, after he wrote 'In Cold Blood." He also died from alcoholism, no doubt a symptom of his spiritual bankruptcy. I also found the character of Harper Lee particularly grating, she was understandably very critical of Capote, yet continued to hang out with him, it was like she enjoyed hanging around with someone she could feel superior to, which in itself is kind of sad. It would be interesting to know if Lee and Capote remained life long friends or parted ways, the movie didn't really say. But it was interesting to note that like Capote, Lee never wrote again after writing her masterpiece "To kill a Mocking Bird." Does anyone know what became of her, as far as her personal life goes?  

They are real people with real personalities, and not necessary nice people. That's one of the things I liked about the film. They didn't sugar-coat Capote's personality or Lee's.

I finally saw this and it was probably one of my favorite Oscar-nominated films I've seen. On the DVD extras, you see some archival footage of Truman Capote and I really couldn't see anything that Hoffman didn't completely nail dead on. Hoffman was Truman Capote. His perfomance was amazing.

  "And the Oscar For Best Actor In A Motion Picture Goes To....Philip Seymour Hoffman"

Philip Seymour Hoffman has always been very good in everything he does. From small roles such as Boogie Nights and Cold Mountain, Hoffman always lit up the screen. With Capote, he is able is showcase his talent, as the main star. If you thought Jamie Foxx was brilliant as RAY, then you will be awe-struck by what Hoffman does with Capote.

In the past couple of years, the Best Actor and Best Actress winners, Jamie Foxx and Charlize Theron gave brilliant performances in mediocre films. Here, Bennett Miller is able to keep up with the performance and the story. Granted, the movie does drag on in parts and is a tad boring, Capote is one of the better films that is going to be rewarded for it's performances. Miller makes us feel comfortable throughout the movie because he knows that everyone will be amazed by Hoffman's performance, so when we see the actual killings, it strikes a cord. We don't expect it, it comes out of nowhere. The second half of the film is the better half, it where Hoffman's performance really drives the film.

Catherine Keener did not amaze me too much. She did a decent job, but her being given an Oscar nomination just proves that there aren't very many good supporting performances out there. Keener's smile always gives her performance away, you see right through the character and all you're left with is Keener. Chris Cooper has too little screen time to work with. Granted, Capote only uses him for information, like he does with the killers.

The film does fault with it's pace. Even though it is better then the other films I mentioned, it does go on and on. I almost fell asleep, until Hoffman really got things going. The film is just really depressing and slow moving that it's uncomfortable.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance, is by fay, the best performance of the year, no doubt. It is the best performance in years. Like Foxx with RAY, Hoffman becomes Capote. Hoffman is so good as Capote it's frightening. He gives us a unique, uneasy, bold, sympathetic, cold, human, performance. Hoffman does the most subtle things with this character that it just brings it life more and more each time, whether it's playing with his ear, or the way he hold a cigarette or even how he holds a glass when he drinks. Every little detail is nailed perfectly by Hoffman. Hoffman makes this film what it is, one of the best performances of the century. Don't listen to all the critics raving about it, don't listen to all the award shows, go and see for yourself.

The script shows Capote befriending one of the killers so he can write a book. Capote seems cold and heartless, but then you see what the murderers did and you question yourself, do they deserve it. Capote feels like he is the the middle of a tug of war, between the evil of the killers, and the gentleness he sees. Again, Hoffman pulls this off beautifully. There is no other actor who can portray this character as good as Hoffman has done, and no one should try because they will ultimately fail.

See Capote for the riveting performance, then again, that's why everyone is seeing it anyway.