Truman Capote (Jones) is the toast of the chattering classes in late-1950s New York, with a coterie of "swans" (Weaver's Babe Paley, Stevenson's Diana Vreeland, Davis' Slim Keith, Rossellini's Marella Agnelli) circling him for gossip. So they're naturally baffled when, for his next book, he becomes obsessed with a grisly murder in Kansas, of all places. His childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee (Bullock) is also perplexed by his fixation on both the case and one of the killers, Perry Smith (Craig). Especially as it begins to change Truman.

Based on George Plimpton's collection of reminiscences about Capote, this film uses to-camera interviews with the actors in character (and in period) to add impressions and feelings as the story progresses. It's strikingly stylistic, and it adds a deeply personal, observational slant. And the cast (especially the swans, plus Bogdanovich's Bennett Cerf) clearly enjoys itself, adding sparky attitude to put Capote's persona into sharp context.

Bullock gives a solid and surprisingly moving turn as Capote's closest confidante, and his only contact with the real world. Daniels is reliably gruff as the local cop, and Craig's against-type casting works simply because he's so willing to subvert his physicality and channel his intensity in a completely new direction. Meanwhile, Jones delivers a breathtakingly unshowy performance that, despite Capote's extreme bizarreness, subtly conveys the man and his complex inner journey with wit, humour and brief shadows. It's simply dazzling--and never remotely over-the-top.

McGrath includes some unnecessary flashbacks, and the swell of romance between Capote and Perry is awkward and melodramatic. But he holds things together with a bristly, jazzy tone and a perceptive script that plays on the characters' flamboyance. Best are the ways the Kansans simply don't know what to make of Capote (they call him "ma'am") and are ultimately won over by his shameless name-dropping. These aspects of the script astutely show the collision of cultures: how Capote took Kansas by storm. And vice versa.

themes, language, violence, brief sexuality

10.Oct.06