CAPOTE

SIDEBAR 1 - IF A MOVIE IS CONTROVERSIAL AND IF THAT CONTROVERSY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH SEX -- IT WILL NOT OPEN IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA, UNTIL WELL AFTER MOST OF THE COUNTRY HAS SEEN IT AND SOMETIMES, IT WILL NEVER PLAY HERE AT ALL. SO, I OFTEN FEEL I AM WRITING A REACTION BASED ON A PONY EXPRESS
VERSION OF THE LATEST NEWS - CAPOTE JUST REACHED US AND YET, FOLKS WERE TALKING ABOUT IT TWO MONTHS AGO, IN THOSE STATES THAT HAVE ELECTRICITY.
SIDEBAR 2 - THE REVIEWERS AT THE 3 BLACK CHICKS WEBSITE, HAVE A SECTION IN THEIR ARTICLES CALLED THE BLACK FACTOR -- THEY WILL MENTION HOW SOME ELEMENT OF THE STORY INVOLVED OR IMPACTED BLACK FOLKS SPECIFICALLY, NOT JUST SOCIETY IN GENERAL. I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT NOT ONE BLACK PERSON WAS SHOWN IN THIS FILM -- EVEN CROSSING THE STREET, TWO BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SCENE. SINCE THE FILM WAS ABOUT KANSAS AND NEW YORK -- I COULD WRITE OFF THE KANSAS PART, BUT SOME WHERE IN NYC, I EXPECTED TO SEE A BLACK FACE.
SIDEBAR 3 - I MISSED THE FIRST TWO MINUTES AND THE LAST TWO MINUTES OF THE FILM, BUT I CHECKED WITH THOSE WHO SAW IT ALL, TO FILL ME IN - DON'T TRY THIS VIEWING METHOD AT HOME..
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TRUMAN CAPOTE WROTE THE STORY OF A KANSAS FARM FAMILY,
MURDERED AFTER A NIGHT OF TORTURE; ALL OVER A RUMOR OF MONEY, THEY DID NOT HAVE - TWO EX CONVICTS WERE CAUGHT, AFTER A NATIONAL POLICE MOBILIZATION.
THIS IS A TREMENDOUS FILM - IT IS SHOT IN A WAY THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER FILM I CAN RECALL, EXCEPT THE FILM IT IS CHRONICLING - THE ORIGINAL,
IN COLD BLOOD.
YOU FEEL YOU ARE IN THE ROOMS AND CELLS WITH THE CHARACTERS, NOT JUST WATCHING FROM AFAR.
THIS STORY MAKES YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO TRUMAN CAPOTE, EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT BE HARD PRESSED TO THINK OF ANYONE ON EARTH YOU SHOULD OR COULD CARE LESS ABOUT. THE PERFORMANCE BY PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, WHO IS IN SO MANY FILMS, GIVING SO MANY FINE PERFORMANCES AND YET, REMAINING,
"THAT GUY," THE ONE YOU CAN'T ATTACH A NAME TO WHEN DISCUSSING THE MOVIE WITH FRIENDS..
HOFFMAN IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF THE PARADOX -
YOU CAN BE A GREAT STAR
OR
A GREAT ACTOR
HE MAY NEVER BE A STAR, BUT HOFFMAN IS AN ACTOR OF THE FIRST ORDER AND IN THE LONG RUN, THAT IS THE GREATER ACHIEVEMENT.
THIS IS A FILM THAT IS QUIET AND SLOW, BUT READY IN ITS MOVEMENT - THE SLOWNESS IS PLANNED, IT IS PART OF THE PLOT -- THIS IS NOT AN MTV VIDEO, USING QUICK CUTS AND MEANINGLESS ACTION, TO AMUSE THOSE WITH POOR CONCENTRATION AND NO ATTENTION TO DETAILS.
MORE IS LEFT UNSAID, THAN VOICED IN THIS FILM; IF YOU CAN'T OR WON'T READ BETWEEN THE LINES, THIS FILM IS NOT THE WAY FOR YOU TO SPEND TWO HOURS OF YOUR TIME.
THE USE OF HARPER LEE ( AUTHOR OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD ) AS A MORAL COMPASS TO SHOW HOW FAR OFF COURSE CAPOTE DRIFTED, IS A NICE PLOY. CATHERINE KEENER GIVES A FULL MEASURE OF STYLE AND CLASS TO THE ROLE.
CAPOTE'S SEX / EMOTIONAL LIFE IS NEVER SENSATIONALIZED, BUT SEX IS A DRIVING FORCE IN HIS LIFE, WHETHER WITH HIS LONGTIME COMPANION OR WITH THE TWO CONVICTS.
THE WORK OF CHRIS COOPER, AS THE KANSAS LAWMAN, HEADING THE INVESTIGATION AND ALLOWING CAPOTE A GREAT DEAL OF ACCESS TO POLICE INFORMATION, IS, AS ALWAYS, OUTSTANDING. MISTER COOPER IS ANOTHER UNAPPRECIATED ACTOR, WHO WILL NEVER BE A MOVIE STAR.
I HAVE THOUGHT OF GOING BACK AND REVISITING, IN COLD BLOOD, BUT I WON'T DO IT, THAT SENSELESS CARNAGE IS NOT SOMETHING I WANT TO EXPERIENCE AGAIN.
IN CASE YOU DID NOT KNOW, ROBERT BLAKE, PLAYED THE MAIN KILLER, PERRY SMITH, IN THE ORIGINAL MOVIE - THE SAME ROBERT BLAKE WHO RECENTLY WAS INVOLVED IN THE SHOOTING OF HIS WIFE, BUT FOUND INNOCENT, IN A MANNER MUCH LIKE O.J. - GUILTY, BUT NOT CONVICTED.