Infamous

January 19th, 2010

Director Douglas McGrath’s biographical drama stars Toby Jones as iconoclastic writer Truman Capote, whose literary investigation into the grisly murders of a rural Kansas family has unintended consequences. While probing the psyches of the killers (played by Daniel Craig and Lee Pace) as research for his soon-to-be best seller In Cold Blood, Capote forms an attachment to one of the convicted men. Sandra Bullock and Jeff Daniels also star.

If you are unfamiliar with Truman Capote and did not see “Capote”, then this is the one you want to see. Why? Because the first hour paints a much more complete picture of Truman and the New York high society in which he thrived. It is revealing, well cast, and surprisingly funny. Toby Jones may not have quite the acting genius of Philip Seymour Hoffman, but he looks and sounds exactly like Capote. A big five stars for the first hour. Then things get all too serious as we move to Kansas, a horrible murder, and the author’s growing relationship with one of the killers. If you did see “Capote”, then you may not want to revisit these scenes and the new movie does not do them quite as well. Nevertheless, both films present a completely true story and both deserve to be seen by the discriminating audiences they are aimed at.