Infamous (Truman Capote movie) is pretty good!

Cafe Society
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I saw Infamous last night and thought it was good. If Capote hadn’t come first, it might have stood a better chance at getting more attention, but as it is comparisons can’t be helped. At least, I can’t help comparing them. I think Capote is the better film when it comes to script, direction and cinematography, but the acting is almost on par. Toby Jones, a revelation, almost, but not quite, outdoes Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote, Sandra Bullock almost, but not quite, outdoes Catherine Keener as Nelle Harper Lee (I say that because Keener is the better actress, but the script gave Bullock more to do, and she was very very good), and Daniel Craig slightly outdoes Clifton Collins Jr. as Perry Smith (Craig is the better actor, but the script gave Collins more to do, but Robert Blake is still the best Perry Smith). Jeff Daniels had nothing to work with and phoned it in, unlike Chris Cooper’s Alvin Dewey.

The two films focus on roughly the same timeframe, Capote researching the Clutter family murders in preparation for writing In Cold Blood, though Infamous spends far more time in New York with his jet set society friends, like Babe Paley (Sigorney Weaver), Diana Vreeland (Juliet Stevenson) and Bennett Cerf (Peter Bogdanovich). I don’t know the characters played by Hope Davis (Slim Keith) and Isabella Rossellini (Marella Agnelli) but I take it they were famous in society circles. Gwyneth Paltrow makes a moving and memorable cameo as a Peggy Lee-type singer (the character is identified as Peggy Lee on IMDB, but in the film credits, they called her something else, I can’t remember the name).

Frankly, Capote did a better job at showing the writing process, and how Truman was affected by the whole ordeal, but Infamous got across some gems too. Infamous comes right out and says that Perry Smith was in love with Capote and there’s even a brief kiss between the two. The movie is going to tank, otherwise people would be all agog about how the next James Bond is a gay mass killer.

I suppose there’s no real reason to go see Infamous, unless you’re especially interested in Truman Capote/the Clutter family murders/In Cold Blood, but I’m glad I saw it. They’ll make a good double-feature on DVD (triple, if you add the movie version of In Cold Blood, which is better than either Capote or Infamous). I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Toby Jones in the future. The boy can ACT! And hooray for Sandra Bullock, for being so good in this.

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Oh, I didn’t know Sandra Bullock was in this. I think she’s a good actress. . .unfortunately she’s had to showcase it in dogs like Miss Congenialty, and * Two Weeks Notice*

She had a bit more to work with in 28 Daysand Murder by Numbers. She was kind of tragic in both.

She doesn’t get the credit that some other modern ladies of her age get because she’s too cute, and she was in Speed, but I think she’s good.

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I haven’t seen the film, and agree that the film Capote has probably ruined the chances for this film to break out due to that “been there, seen that” mentality.

However, there seems to be a lot of buzz about Sandra Bullocks’ performance, with hints of at least an Oscar nomination - of course, it is still early in the season, so who know if that will happen.

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I saw it two nights ago and really enjoyed it. I hadn’t seen “Capote,” but the friend I was with had, and said it compared very favorably. The entire cast was quite good - I’ve always had a soft spot for Sandra Bullock, and she gave a wry, understated performance as Harper Lee (although I wouldn’t go so far as to say Oscar-worthy). The guy who played Capote is outstanding (although the odds of two actors in succeeding years being nominated for playing the same character as pretty long). There are a lot of funny fish-out-of-water scenes with the flamboyant Capote trying to bond with phlegmatic, wary Kansans, and a lot of good Fifties High Society atmosphere, too. Highly recommended.

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CLEAR! [SHOCK]— we have a heartbeat!

Reviving this thread because I just saw the movie.

I liked INFAMOUS better than CAPOTE, particularly Toby Jones. With PSH I never forgot I was watching an actor play Truman, but with Toby I did. Sandra Bullock was way better than I’d thought she’d be (even the accent) as Nelle Harper Lee (though she sort of gets dropped along the line) and there was more attention to details (for example, the Clutter house in INFAMOUS looks much more like the real place [new and brick and modern for the time] than the old farmhouse in CAPOTE.

Daniel Craig is a thousand times sexier than Perry Smith ever was (Robert Blake totally owns that role) but his acting was great. Weaver and Paltrow were great as Swans, I liked the spoken asides by the actors playing Bennet Cerf and Vreeland and Vidal (a great touch- the movie’s based on Plimpton’s oral biography of Capote) and I loved the bits about Capote’s writing process, changing Smith to a more likeable character because he needs him to be.

If I were to film a sequel that goes from perhaps BLACK & WHITE BALL to STUDIO 54 Capote, or do a revival of the play TRU, it would definitely be with Toby rather than Hoffman (who was good but just not as “one with the character”).