Capote (2005)

In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.

Director:

Bennett Miller

Writers:

Dan Futterman (screenplay), Gerald Clarke (book)

Stars:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener

Won 1 Oscar. Another 59 wins & 87 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Allie Mickelson	...	Laura Kinney
Kelci Stephenson	...	Nancy Clutter
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Truman Capote
Craig Archibald	...	Christopher
Bronwen Coleman	...	Barbara
Kate Shindle	...	Rose
David Wilson Barnes	...	Grayson
Michael J. Burg	...	Williams (as Michael J. Berg)
Catherine Keener	...	Nelle Harper Lee
Kwesi Ameyaw	...	Porter
Andrew Farago	...	Car Rental Agent
Ken Krotowich	...	Courthouse Guard
Chris Cooper	...	Alvin Dewey
R.D. Reid	...	Roy Church
Rob McLaughlin	...	Harold Nye (as Robert McLaughlin)

Storyline

Famed writer Truman Capote, southern born and bred but now part of the New York City social circle, is growing weary of his current assignment of writing autobiographical type pieces for the New Yorker. After reading a newspaper article about the just occurred November 14, 1959 cold blooded murders of the Clutter family in their rural Kansas home, Truman feels compelled to write about that event as his next article. So he and his personal assistant Nelle Harper Lee, also a southern born New Yorker and an aspiring writer of her own, head to Kansas to research the story first-hand. Truman hopes to use his celebrity status to gain access to whomever he needs, such as to Laura Kinney, a friend of the Clutter daughter she who discovered the bodies, and to Alvin Dewey, the lead police investigator and also a Clutter family friend. If his celebrity doesn't work, Truman will grease the wheels by whatever means necessary. When the police eventually charge suspects, two young men named Dick ...

---

Plot Keywords:

gay lead character | kansas | prison | reading | death penalty | 

---

Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent images and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Truman Capote

Filming Locations:

Manitoba Legislative Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$324,857, 2 October 2005

Gross USA:

$28,750,530

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$49,233,161

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Sony Pictures Classics, A-Line Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lee and Capote were still in elementary school, Lee's father, Amasa Coleman Lee, gave them a typewriter. The two of them took turns dictating stories and typing them up.

---

Goofs

Capote's hotel room has a plastic bottle of soda.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Laura Kinney: Hello? Nancy?

---

Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 24 December 2014 (2014)

---

Soundtracks

My Little Suede Shoes
(1951)
Written by Charlie Parker
Performed by Paul Smith Trio
Courtesy of Criterion Music Productions

User Reviews

In cold blood

Director Bennet Miller's "Capote" is a film that shows great intelligence in the way it captured the essence of Truman Capote, a man who achieved fame and notoriety with most of the fiction he wrote. This film concentrates in the period of his life in which he got obsessed by a notorious murder case of the fifties about the murder of a family in Kansas.

Dan Futterman has written the screen play based on the book by Gerald Clarke. The film is an account about the writing of the novel "In Cold Blood" that showed how the two young men who committed the heinous crime are caught, processed and hanged for their actions.

If you haven't watched the film, perhaps you would like to stop here.

When the film opens we get a vision of a lonely house in the distance. This being the Midwest, we are given a flat expanse devoid of elevations anywhere. The camera takes us to that lonely house as a young woman comes calling for her friend that lives in there. Not getting any response, she goes in to a room upstairs where she discovers her friend has been killed. The colors are dark, as is the tone of the film.

Truman Capote, who had been connected to the New Yorker magazine, sees the article in the N.Y. Times and gets interested. This case that shocked the country, at the time, shows a promise for the writer. The next time we meet him, he is in the small town in Kansas accompanied by his good friend and steadying influence, Nell Harper Lee, a writer.

By becoming friendly with the sheriff's wife, Mr. Capote gets a privilege by having access to the two murderers. Truman is clearly deeply affected by his relationship with Perry Smith, a handsome dark man who shows a lot of intensity. By gaining their trust, Capote is able to put together his best selling book "In Cold Blood", which will revolutionize American letters in the way the two criminals are portrayed.

Truman Capote, while pursuing the completion of his book, doesn't come clean to Perry Smith. In fact, when questioned about things he has learned, Capote gives evasive answers because he is not prepared to share with his main subject things that clearly should have been clarified from the start.

Watching the brilliant take of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote on the screen, brought to mind another great actor, Meryl Streep, who like Mr. Hoffman is a chameleon in the interpretation of a character. Mr. Hoffman is perfect as the writer because he has captured every mannerism and the speech inflection of Truman Capote. Catherine Keener is perfect as Nelle, the true friend and companion. Bruce Greenwood plays Truman Capote's companion Jack Dunphy. Chris Cooper is totally wasted as Sheriff Dewey.

Adam Kimmel excellent cinematography contributes to the atmosphere the director gave the film because of the use of muted colors in what appear to be the bleak winter of the Midwest.