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Film review

A day late, a dollar short

Infamous tells the story of Truman Capote as he wrote In Cold Blood. If only it had been the first to tell it.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published October 12, 2006

Infamous might have been viewed as one of this year's better films if Capote hadn't told the same story about the same characters a year ago and done it so well.

Practically every scene in Douglas McGrath's Infamous invites comparison with Bennett Miller's biography of author Truman Capote, which was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture.

And Infamous is inferior, although not drastically so, in almost every respect.

McGrath carries an unfortunate burden with grace, but Infamous is less of a companion piece than an interesting redundancy. Even when he adds different touches, such as celebrity interviewees speaking about their friend/rival, we think of how Capote didn't do that.

Once again, we're watching Capote, played by British actor Toby Jones with stylish foppishness, at work on his groundbreaking crime novel In Cold Blood. At his side is researcher Harper Lee Sandra Bullock, whose novel To Kill a Mockingbird is about to be published.

They travel to rural Kansas to write about the Clutter family murders committed by drifters Perry Smith (Daniel Craig) and Dick Hickock (Lee Pace).

The killers are tracked by FBI agent Alvin Dewey (Jeff Daniels), who knew the Clutters and doesn't know what to make of this effeminate city slicker asking questions. The killers are caught and sentenced to death.

Over years of appeals, Capote becomes their regular death row visitor, developing a romantic bond with Smith that complicates his journalistic instincts. He can't finish In Cold Blood until the man he loves is executed.

McGrath takes a different approach from Miller's by focusing more on the bond between Capote and Smith than on the book they will create. The attraction is more overt than Philip Seymour Hoffman and Clifton Collins superbly danced around in Capote.

There's also more humor here, with Kansans constantly mistaking Capote for a woman and a skittishness about homosexuality straight from Will & Grace. Capote's companion in New York, author Jack Dunphy, is barely acknowledged here, robbing the movie of a tangible love triangle. Advantage to Capote.

The most obvious comparisons are to be made about performances. Jones is a much more accurate physical representation of Capote than Hoffman, his high-pitched voice sounding a little more affected than his Oscar-winning predecessor. However, the relative shallowness of McGrath's screenplay doesn't offer as many emotional land mines for Jones to play.

Jones delivers an uncanny impersonation, while Hoffman's portrayal was a studiously researched impression, a likely more challenging task. Call this race nearly a draw, with Hoffman simply crossing the finish line first.

Other actors pale by comparison. Bullock doesn't match Catherine Keener's earthy doggedness as Lee. Like many people in Capote's orbit, her relationship with the author is stunted by McGrath's constantly shifting attention. Capote's jealousy of Lee's fame, which nagged him to top her with In Cold Blood, is missing. Daniels isn't tough enough as Dewey; Capote's Chris Cooper always kept a wary eye on Capote even when being seduced by name-dropping.

Concentrating on Smith as a lover rather than a tool for success - complex ethics that Miller nailed - damages Craig's performance. His tall, rugged stature suits James Bond, but isn't a good physical match for Smith.

Truman Capote's life certainly deserves more than one movie, from his childhood memories that evolved into The Grass Harp to Capote last year. What we needed was a movie picking up where Infamous and Capote end, a study of a tragically blocked literary genius becoming a parody yet blazing a trail out of the closet for homosexuals.

We needed to see Capote's bitter feud with Gore Vidal rather than an actor playing Vidal dripping a few venomous lines.

We didn't need another Capote.

Steve Persall can be reached at (727) 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com.

Infamous

Grade: B

Director: Douglas McGrath

Cast: Toby Jones, Daniel Craig, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, Sigourney Weaver, Peter Bogdanovich, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson, Lee Pace

Screenplay: Douglas McGrath, based on the book Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career, by George Plimpton

Rating: R; strong profanity, sexual situations, violence

Running time: 110 min.

NOTE: Though it was advertised for wider release this weekend, Infamous is showing in the Tampa Bay area only at Veterans 24 in Tampa.

[Last modified October 11, 2006, 11:54:57]