CAPOTE
The horrific crime, the arrest and eventual conviction and hanging of Hickock and Smith captivated the entire nation. And it caught the eye of a popular fiction writer of the day, Truman Capote. The New Yorker magazine writer and author of the popular "Breakfast at Tiffany's" decided the impact of the murders on Holcomb would be his next story for the New Yorker.
Little did he know that the next four years of his life would be consumed with the people and events surrounding this tragedy and from it would emerge his landmark book, "In Cold Blood."
It almost killed him, too, as you can vividly see in the masterful portrayal of that period in the Oscar-winning "Capote" (Sony, 5 stars) from director Bennett Miller and scriptwriter Dan Futterman. Capote is brought vividly to life by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose astounding transformation was rewarded with the Best Actor statue from the Academy.
To the simple folk of Nebraska, Capote must have seemed an alien. His effeminate mannerisms and voice, his New York stylishness, his abrasive and cynical nature - all off-putting traits. And yet, Capote won the people over by deeply caring about them and their stories and by working plenty of the same charm he used to wow New York literary society.
Capote brought with him as researcher and "bodyguard" his childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee, who was not far from publishing her own classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Capote's detached and irreverent attitude toward the story began to crumble when he came face to face with the killers, especially the darkly brooding and pained Smith (chillingly portrayed by Clifton Collins Jr.). Capote seems to identify with the young man, and even grows attached to him.
"The book I'm writing will return him to the realm of humanity," Capote pompously tells a contemporary at a New York party.
It is never entirely clear if Smith is using Capote or Capote using Smith for personal ends, but this odd bond persists to the end. And it is an end that is long in coming. Capote has the book three-quarters finished and only awaits the execution of the two men to write the final chapters. At one point, Capote expresses exasperation at the numerous court appeals - which he enabled by hiring an attorney for the two killers. "All I want to do is write the ending," huffs Capote, "and there is no ending in sight."
When the end does come, it is more than Capote can stand. He finishes his book, to great acclaim, but never writes another. The agony that is Capote makes for a fascinating movie. Director Miller adopts a style that is as deliberate, introspective and open as the Kansas plains. It is shot in muted colors, so much so that I had to think hard to recall if this was a black and white movie.
The cast around Hoffman is brilliantly chosen - Catherine Keener's Harper Lee earned a supporting actress nomination; Chris Cooper is Alvin Dewey, the wary Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent; Bob Balaban is the revered New Yorker editor William Shawn; and Bruce Greenwood is Capote's long-suffering partner Jack Dunphy. But the most chilling characters are Collins as Perry Smith and Mark Pellegrino as his partner Richard Hickock.
The DVD includes two audio commentaries, one by Hoffman and director Miller and a second by Miller with his cinematographer Adam Kimmel. There are several features. "Answered Prayers" is a discussion about Capote by his biographer Gerald Clarke and the film cast and crew. It includes archive footage of Capote that shows how much Hoffman inhabits his persona. The second is a two-part exploration of the making of the movie - from script to casting to costuming to stylistic decisions to set locations to editing.
ALSO THIS WEEK
"The Squid and the Whale" (Sony, 3 1/2 stars) Keeping with the "Capote" theme that writers are incredibly difficult people to live with, Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are Bernard and Joan, a pair of New York writers who go their separate ways, contrary to the wishes of their two sons, 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline). While shuttling between households, Walt and Frank begin to act out in ways that can only be described as pleas for help. Bernard and Joan, meanwhile, try to soften the impact on the kids while using them as bargaining chips in their control struggles.
There is an odd air of melancholy and whimsy over this tale, set in the mid-1980s. While nothing is ever resolved, by the end of the film you're resigned enough to accept that nothing ever will be. Life will go on, different and not the way anyone planned it, but life will go on. The DVD extras include an interview with Oscar-nominated (Best Original Screenplay) writer Noah Baumbach, as well as a feature on the making of the movie.
"Dreamer" (DreamWorks, 3 stars) Inspirational fare about second chances and the importance of family, based on the real-life story. A horse trainer (Kurt Russell) and his daughter Cale (Dakota Fanning) risk all to rehabilitate a once-promising race horse, Sonador (based on the real-life Mariah's Storm). In the process, father and daughter learn how to rehabilitate their own family. The cast also includes Kris Kristofferson, Elisabeth Shue, Luis Guzman and Freddy Rodriguez. The DVD is chock-full of extras, including deleted scenes, a commentary track from director John Gatins, a profile of Mariah's Storm, a feature on filming with horses, and a look at the cast. Dakota Fanning gives tips on caring for a horse and the director calls a live horse race. There's also a music video for Bethany Dillon's title song, "Dreamer."
"Chicken Little" (Disney, 2 1/2 stars) Yeah, yeah, the sky is falling but the more important issue is whether Chicken Little's dad (voiced by Garry Marshall) believes in him or not. Computer animated refashioning of the classic kid's tale includes lots of self-referential jokes (Chicken Little's disastrous warning cry leads to havoc that leads to front page news, a book, a movie, a Web site, commemorative plates, bumper stickers and 15 minutes of fame), pop-cultural references and glamour magazine platitudes. Chicken Little is voiced by "Scrubs" star Zach Braff. Other actors doing voices include Patrick Stewart, Amy Sedaris, Steve Zahn, Joan Cusack, Harry Shearer, Wallace Shawn, Fred Willard, and Catherine O'Hara. A note of nostalgia: The late Don Knotts voices Mayor Turkey Lurkey. The DVD includes deleted scenes, four music videos, games and a five-part making-of feature. This is Disney's first in-house fully computer animated feature. Not bad but not up to the quality of newly reconciled partner Pixar Studios.
"The Dying Gaul" (Sony, 2 1/2) Peter Sarsgaard is a young Hollywood screenwriter who suddenly has a hot script on his hands, an autobiographical story of the death of his male lover. While a studio is offering him a million dollars for it, there's a catch: They want to make it more commercial by making it a male-female love story. The studio chief who tries to seduce him financially and sexually (Campbell Scott) suddenly finds himself in a different sort of game when his wife (Patricia Clarkson) discovers their relationship. The DVD includes deleted scenes and an alternate ending.
"Derailed" (Weinstein Co./Genius Products, 2 stars) In this sexy thriller, a commuter train encounter between a married man (Clive Owens) and a businesswoman (Jennifer Aniston) leads to evening drinks and a torrid one-night stand. The two get more than they bargained for, however, when a stranger threatens to expose their dalliance. The DVD includes a making-of feature and deleted scenes. An unrated DVD version of the film includes an additional five minutes of footage.
Other films available this week: the dark comedy-thriller "Break a Leg"; the mobster film "In the Mix" (starring hip-hop performer Usher); psychological thriller "Keane" (with an alternate cut by executive producer Steven Soderbergh); documentary on the author Charles Bukowski "Bukowski: Born Into This"; a documentary on the effort to salvage professional bowling "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen"; and the animated retelling of a classic "The Adventures of Brer Rabbit."
FROM THE VAULTS
"The Shirley Temple Collection, Vol. 3" (Fox) Three titles come in this box set, in both original black and white and colorized versions: "Dimples," "The Littlest Rebel" and "The Little Colonel."
"The Ten Commandments" (Paramount) This 50th (!) anniversary box set includes the Cecil B. DeMille epic as well as a fully restored version of his 1923 silent adaptation of the same story. The three-disc set also includes a six-part documentary on the making of the film which starred Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as the Pharaoh. The set also includes commentary by Katherine Orrison, author of a book on the making of the film.
"Stalag 17: Special Collector's Edition" (Paramount) Billy Wilder's POW camp epic garnered three Oscar nominations and a Best Actor statue for William Holden as the cynical schemer Sgt. J.J. Sefton. The DVD contains previously unseen features and a commentary track.
IT CAME FROM TV
From the tube to your DVD player this week: "South Park: The Complete Seventh Season"; "Mind of Mencia: Season One - Uncensored"; "Gidget: The Complete Series"; "The Flying Nun: The Complete First Season"; "Huff: Complete First Season"; "Bewitched: Complete Third Season"; "21 Jump Street: Season Five"; "Tales from the Crypt: The Complete First Season"; "The White Shadow: Season Two"; and the Iraq War drama series "Over There" in its entirety.
© Copley News Service
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