# The "other" Truman Capote movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375 "2007-03-17T23:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/1 "2007-03-17T23:10:15Z")
Just watched _Infamous_, which had the great misfortune of being the Second Annual Film About Truman Capote Writing _In Cold Blood_. I wanted to see it in the theater, but those whom I’d ordinarily be able to persuade to see such a movie with me had all seen _Capote_ the year before, so I ended up waiting till it came out on DVD. What did I think? Thanks for asking. Toby Jones has the advantage over Phillip Seymour Hoffman of being closer to Capote’s actual size, but he slid into caricature once or twice (which, admittedly, must be hard not to do, playing Capote), which I don’t think PSH ever did. Overall, though, the cast of _Infamous_ was better – I enjoyed the star power of the women who played TC’s various “swans.” And Daniel Craig was quite amazing as Perry Smith – hard to believe his other role last year was as Bond. I thought _Infamous_ had a better opening scene (in a nightclub, with Gwyneth Paltrow singing “What Is This Thing Called Love”) and a better closing scene. In between, though – a damn good film, but not \*quite \*as good as _Capote_. All in all, a damned shame it had to come out when it did. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/2 "2007-03-17T23:16:23Z")
I just don’t understand why there needs to be another film about this period in Capote’s life; his tenure as an enfant terrible after the publication of _Other Voices, Other Rooms_ is twenty times as interesting as the _In Cold Blood_ period. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/3 "2007-03-18T00:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Just watched _Infamous_, which had the great misfortune of being the Second Annual Film About Truman Capote Writing _In Cold Blood_. I wanted to see it in the theater, but those whom I’d ordinarily be able to persuade to see such a movie with me had all seen _Capote_ the year before, so I ended up waiting till it came out on DVD. What did I think? Thanks for asking. Toby Jones has the advantage over Phillip Seymour Hoffman of being closer to Capote’s actual size, but he slid into caricature once or twice (which, admittedly, must be hard not to do, playing Capote), which I don’t think PSH ever did. Overall, though, the cast of _Infamous_ was better – I enjoyed the star power of the women who played TC’s various “swans.” And Daniel Craig was quite amazing as Perry Smith – hard to believe his other role last year was as Bond. I thought _Infamous_ had a better opening scene (in a nightclub, with Gwyneth Paltrow singing “What Is This Thing Called Love”) and a better closing scene. In between, though – a damn good film, but not \*quite \*as good as _Capote_. All in all, a damned shame it had to come out when it did. [/QUOTE] I agree with your assessment. I also thought Sandra Bullock’s performance was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/4 "2007-03-18T04:23:23Z")
I really liked it. You might want to take a gander at this earlier thread, in which I also posted: [Infamous (Truman Capote movie) is pretty good! - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=392283) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/5 "2007-03-18T05:14:41Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] I just don’t understand why there needs to be another film about this period in Capote’s life; his tenure as an enfant terrible after the publication of _Other Voices, Other Rooms_ is twenty times as interesting as the _In Cold Blood_ period. [/QUOTE] There doesn’t “need to be.” These two movies were made at about the same time, by different people. _Infamous_’s release was delayed so that they wouldn’t both be in theaters at the same time. FWIW, I thought the performances in \*Infamous \* were pretty good, but I couldn’t shake the gloss of hypocrisy, somehow: a movie tsk-tsking Capote’s exploitation of real human beings in the service of his art, while doing essentially the same thing. For some reason, I didn’t feel this as strongly in _Capote_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/6 "2007-03-18T13:16:56Z")
Thanks for the link, **EH** – I should have checked before starting a new thread. **Lissener** – I’m interested in your “hypocrisy” reaction, and would love to hear a little more about that. James Berardinelli summarized what he saw as the difference between the two thusly: > [@](#): > > Since _Capote_ and _Infamous_ were both in production at the same time, it’s unfair to label either as the work of a copycat. Superficially, they are so similar, it’s almost eerie (and a testament to how fascinating this era of Capote’s life is to current filmmakers). It’s the differences in approach that makes both movies worth watching on their own terms. _Capote is the more intellectual of the two films; Infamous_ is the more emotional. They exist to complement, not eclipse, one another. \*\* [my bolding] Is that where you’re coming from? Or is it that the attraction between Capote and Smith was far more explicit in _Infamous_? Who do you see being exploited in _Infamous_? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/7 "2007-03-19T18:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Thanks for the link, **EH** – I should have checked before starting a new thread. **Lissener** – I’m interested in your “hypocrisy” reaction, and would love to hear a little more about that. James Berardinelli summarized what he saw as the difference between the two thusly: Is that where you’re coming from? Or is it that the attraction between Capote and Smith was far more explicit in _Infamous_? Who do you see being exploited in _Infamous_? [/QUOTE] I can’t speak for **lissener** , and I have not yet seen _Infamous_, but just from the trailers, I got the impression that it has a lot to do with the glitz and glamor of Capote’s social circles, with scandal and gossip – and less to do with the tragedy of four decent people being senselessly slaughtered. _Capote_ was a bleak film, with nearly every frame washed of color. The flamboyant _enfant terrible_ is portrayed as haunted by the case, and clearly troubled by the disparity between the savageness of the crime and the artistic soul of Perry Smith. Returning to the trailer of _Infamous_, I’m struck by the sense (which may be entirely the fault of the marketing campaign rather than the filmmakers) that Hollywood (and with it the moviegoing public) is jaded to the horrors of the Clutter case, but is happy to see it as the backdrop for a juicy Kitty Kelly-esque romp. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/8 "2007-03-19T19:55:06Z")
Both films contrast Capote’s life in Manhattan to what was going on in Kansas. I think “tragedy” is a sadly overused word – but the tragedy of Capote’s life is that he was unable to (chose not to?) escape from the superficiality of his Manhattan life, despite realizing how profoundly superficial it was – and that, ensnared there, it was all downhill for him after the publication of _In Cold Blood_. I think that’s equally the point of both films. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/9 "2007-03-19T20:06:50Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Thanks for the link, **EH** – I should have checked before starting a new thread. **Lissener** – I’m interested in your “hypocrisy” reaction, and would love to hear a little more about that. James Berardinelli summarized what he saw as the difference between the two thusly: Is that where you’re coming from? Or is it that the attraction between Capote and Smith was far more explicit in _Infamous_? Who do you see being exploited in _Infamous_? [/QUOTE] I think that’s part of it; \*Infamous \*was much more personal, more speculative about the “juicy details,” all of course for the audience’s benefit, if not outright titillation. Again, well acted, etc., but the overall approach struck me as more exploitive, more voyeuristic. And the fact that the underlying theme, if you take the whole thing as a kind of morality play, is explicitly critical of such exploitation, the fact that this is done without any sense of irony left me with a whiff of hypocrisy. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/10 "2007-03-19T20:11:18Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] YMMV, of course. [/QUOTE] I wasn’t disagreeing with you – in fact, now that you’ve expanded on the point, I definitely agree. I was just curious to hear a little more about what you meant as I tried to sort out my own reactions to the two movies. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-other-truman-capote-movie/396375/11 "2007-03-19T20:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] I wasn’t disagreeing with you – in fact, now that you’ve expanded on the point, I definitely agree. I was just curious to hear a little more about what you meant as I tried to sort out my own reactions to the two movies. [/QUOTE] No, I know; the YMMV was broadcast generally. (I’m tired of getting piled on every time I express a negative opinion in this forum, so more and more lately I reflexively and repeatedly remind everyone that an opinion expressed here is just an opinion; too many people seem to need reminders of that. I was not thinking of you in particular, twix.)