Infamous (2006)

"Infamous" is the Oscar movie NOT "Capote." Acting, costuming, screen writing, and artistic direction are all sublime. Cinematography is spectacular and I am watching it again just to admire the shots which are framed and composed like a paintings. Delicious!

I was bored by "Capote" until PSH got on stage and began reading from "In Cold Blood." Then the quality of the movie rose above itself and was transformed into literature where before it had been just a movie. That's when I re-read the book which is every bit as good as I remembered it to be.

"Infamous" was a gem from start to finish. Wonderful!

Fmovies: Perhaps I should say Yet Another Comparison. I just watched Infamous last night and was so pleased I watched Capote tonight. Last night I was left surprised and thinking, tonight I was left sleepy and disappointed. Capote was so busy with trying to create atmosphere and style it never developed the characters with anywhere near the depth that Infamous did so briefly and elegantly. The solid character development in Infamous was due to much better casting all around as well as a much more alive script with rich, layered dialog. I was impressed by all the performances in Infamous, even the usually commercially thin Sandra Bullock who, sans make-up, appears as real and convincing as I've ever seen her. By the way, who did the singing for Gwyneth Paltrow? If it was her, she may have missed her true calling. Capote on the other hand, most (almost all) of the characters were presented as thin, stock characters used to push the story along, as well as manipulate your emotions. As a side note, I'm usually a big fan of almost all instrumental soundtracks but the repetitive piano chords replayed over and over in Capote, an obvious and flaccid attempt to create a gloomy, heavy mood, became a distracting annoyance after the umpteenth time. By the end of Capote I was bored and distracted and felt that the obvious attempt to manipulate me as an audience member failed. I also felt detached and uninterested in all the characters, nothing had happened to give me a sense of their unique humanness or that most of them were real. Infamous on the other hand, I found to be one of the most intriguing and touching love stories I have seen in quite a long time. I happen to be a straight male who usually sees most theatrical (and public) displays of love as false, unconvincing and badly clichéd. Toby Jones and Daniel Craig were both very much alive and the love they created fascinating. And though they were of characters that I would not think I could find so interesting and feel so much for, a psychotic criminal and a gay society party boy, I was nevertheless quite touched by their love and seriously saddened by its tragedy. I was finally able to realize very clearly after Infamous why Truman Capote slowly self destructed after writing "In Cold Blood". It did the job of top notch cinema and art, it changed my perspective on many points. To paraphrase the Perry Smith character from Infamous, it had the most important element to writing and a great story: kindness.

Infamous has a difficult comparison with the earlier "Capote." Still it is a different view of the same story and characters and is written with more emphasis on the perspectives of those who knew, or thought they knew, Capote. Toby Jones may not fully match the nuanced performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman but he does, possibly, a better imitation of Capote. Infamous has a better known cast of supporting players and they do a creditable job. Sandra Bullock's Harper Lee isn't the quite same as that portrayed so well by Catherine Keener in "Capote" but her character blends perfectly with the tone of "Infamous." Daniel Craig adds another fine acting turn as the "In Cold Blood" killer who receives the most attention. Even Gwyneth Paltrow makes an excellent impression in a brief opening scene as, apparently, singer Peggy Lee. (In the showing I saw, she was introduced as "Kitty Dean???") I wondered why another version of this story was filmed and it may not do well after the success of "Capote" but I was surprisingly entertained and intrigued by this movie.

Infamous fmovies. "There will be time to murder and create." T.S. Eliot's Prufrock

Truman Capote described murderer Perry Smith as between the "tender and the terrible." Such may be said about writer/director Douglas McGrath's superior Infamous, a tale of Truman Capote's (Toby Jones) love affair with his innovative novelization, In Cold Blood, and its protagonist,Perry Smith (Daniel Graig). The tender is Capote's love of his female friends, especially Harper Lee (Sandra Bullock) and Smith (DanielCraig), and the terrible slaughter of the Kansas farm family in 1959 by Smith and friend Dick Hickock (Lee Pace).

Inevitable as accusing Toby Jones of only imitating Capote is the comparison with Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar performance of the titular author in Capote (1955). Jones's turn is more complex than Hoffman's, alternating between Capote's imaginative connection with the crime and his growing respect, even love, for Smith. In fact, the well-known love between the men is avoided in Capote but highlighted in Infamous.

I was hooked in the first sequence, when Gwyneth Paltrow as Peggy Lee sings "What is this thing called love?" and breaks down in apparent awareness of her own losses. The song, perfect for the themes of the film, and the film's score carry a melancholy with them that McGrath captures in Tru's constantly frustrated search for truth and love and Lee's inability to pen another novel after her Pulitzer-Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird. For that matter, Capote never completes a significant piece after that himself.

Last year's Capote seemed centered on the conflict in Truman over whether or not he was exploiting Smith to get a story and then never fully engaging a campaign to free them. This year's Infamous (a poor title regardless of it double artistic appropriateness) is more interested in Truman's struggle to write a new kind of fiction (docudrama) and his true affection for Smith. Infamous fleshes out the story and the fabulous artist whose "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood" are cultural staples of 20th century life.

Infamous is by far the better movie about Truman Capote. I saw this film in Venice where the audience gave it a 15 minute standing ovation. There is a lot that is brilliant about this film. The cast is perfect. This film shows us more characters than the previous movie and each is played beautifully by a highly competent actor. INFAMOUS is one of the most effective and unique films I have seen in a long time. It treats its' subject with humor but also with emotional depth. I was moved by Truman's journey. His relationship with Perry Smith is complex and heartbreaking. Daniel Craig rides a thin line between sympathetic and dangerous. He is a truly gifted artist. Doug McGrath's film-making is brave and true to itself in every way. Toby Jones is the perfect Truman. I was unfamiliar with him as an actor and totally surprised by his amazing, seamless performance. I'm telling you, Toby Jones is Oscar material.

It could be a work of fiction. Just like the factual novel of Truman Capote. For maximum enjoyment one should forget last years "Capote". Like so many other things in modern pop culture the same stories can be told countless times, the versions vary but at its center there is a truth that its stranger than fiction. Truman Capote is like an alien visiting our planet, his intellect allows him to see beyond our limitations and his need to belong to be accepted transforms him into one of the greatest manipulators of all time. Toby Jones is extraordinary. There is no performance other that Capote's own daily performance to charm and seduce everyone who has anything he needs. He seems him quiver when his rapport with Perry King takes unexpected erotic turns. There is real sexual tension in their scenes together. I believed it, Perry King I mean, I believe that he felt compelled and attracted by this tiny,famous,alien celebrity. Daniel Craig is superb and his character has the power to get under our skin without betraying the brutal side of his nature. What Capote felt is another story. He lies so blatantly, so beautifully that it's impossible to tell, maybe even Capote himself couldn't tell. Doug McGrath's version of the events is funnier, more entertaining and certainly more theatrical that last year's version that I've advised you to forget - The advise is heartfelt but difficult to put into practice - Sandra Bullock, Juliet Stevenson, Sigourney Weaver and Isabella Rossellini contribute to the fun and to the theatrical feel of "Infamous" If you're a sucker for pop culture and who isn't? Run to see it.