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Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Cooper, Bruce Greenwood ... see more see more... , Bob Balaban , Amy Ryan , Mark Pellegrino , Marshall Bell , Adam Kimmel , R.D. Reid , C. Ernst Harth , Harry Nelken , John Maclaren , Jim Shepard , Bob Huculak , John B. Destry , Kwesi Ameyaw , Allie Mickelson , Araby Lockhart , Robert McLaughlin , Kerr Hewitt , Jeremy Dangerfield

The creation of one of the most memorable books of the 1960s -- and the impact the writing and research would have on its author -- is explored in this drama based on a true story. In 1959, Truman Cap... read more read more...ote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote also co-stars Bruce Greenwood as Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy, and Amy Ryan as Mary Dewey, Alvin's wife who became a confidante of Capote's. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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73% liked it

110,144 ratings

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90% liked it

179 critics

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Release Date: September 30, 2005

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DVD Release Date: March 14, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (7,035)

  • FiLmCrAzY
    April 28, 2012
    FiLmCrAzY
    I feel really bad giving this a poor review but i strongly disliked this movie!
    Yes Philip Seymour Hoffman did a great job and portrayed Capote extremely well, and apart from the supporting cast and the good acting everything else is poor in my opinion!
    I don't think i like Trum... read morean Capote at all he needed a smack in my opinion and there was no way you can feel sympathy for the murderers even if they were being used by the writer as they did a horrible crime for so little money!
    I did like the line where PSH is on the phone to Harper Lee and he says 'There was nothing more he could have done' and Harper Lee replies 'That may have been the case but in all honesty you didn't really want to' i thought that was really interesting it certainly shows you the true character of Capote and it makes you wonder and question whether hes any better than the guys he condemmed to death !

    Philip did great as did the rest of the cast, movie was boring, slow and annoying.
  • blkbomb
    November 28, 2011
    blkbomb
    Truman Capote: If I leave here without understanding you, the world will see you as a monster. Always. And I don't want that. 

    Capote is a slow moving, quiet and totally engrossing film that shows how Truman Capote came to write In Cold Blood. We watch him go to great extents to... read more write the book. He talks to everyone who was somewhat touched by the murders. Then he gets close to the actual murderers and ends up spending a great deal of time with them up until their eventual hangings.

    Really when describing Capote all you need to say are three words; Philip Seymour Hoffman. The guy is amazing, as always, but this is the best work I have ever seen from him. He becomes Capote in just about every conceivable way. His performance in Capote is career defining. It is definitely what he should be remembered for most. The movie also features an extremely underrated actress Catherine Keener as Harper Lee. Keener is always an extreme joy to watch and her presence in this movie is no exception.

    What I really liked about the movie was just how soft spoken it was, just like Capote. It doesn't do anything to excite the viewer, but just quietly walks us through Truman's work. The film is beautifully shot and has a quiet, hypnotizing score. It is just beautifully and brilliantly made on every front, but it isn't for the type of person who only likes movies that are action packed. 

    The movie is a must watch if you are a fan of Capote or Hoffman. It is an amazing look at an amazing writer as he worked his way through his most famous and critically praised work of his career. 
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    Amazing performance by Hoffman. Really enjoyed it and the fact it was a true story really made it that much more heart wrenching.
  • DreamExtractor
    April 3, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    The greatest acting performance ever done. Capote is an incredible movie on every scale, it as a great story, great backround, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman deserved the Oscar more than anyone else. This movie shouldve won Best Picture if you ask me,
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    October 13, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Capote is the incredible true story of writer Truman Capote who researched and wrote the first non-fiction book, In Cold Blood. This book set new standards in the literary world. In his novel, Truman Capote documents the brutal murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb Kansas, a sm... read moreall farming community in 1959. In the film, Truman Capote befriends the population of Holcomb and initially intends to write an article on the matter. He soon realizes he has too much source material for a single article, and decides to write a book on the tragic events. With the Help of fellow friend and author Nelle Harper Lee (author, To Kill A Mockingbird) they set out to do research for Capote's work. It's not long after that the killers are captured, and after a swift trial, are condemned to death. After the trial Capote tries to discuss and get information about the night of November 15th, 1959. The film is a brilliant work of drama. The entire cast do a phenomenal job and the film is simply one of the best works in the drama genre in a long time. Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives one of his greatest performances here, and he's played some terrific parts in the past, but in Capote he delivers something truly unique. Director Brennett Miller tells a compelling story, and the film owes much to it's grandeur with it's incredible cast of talented actors. Capote is a film that shows the conflicted side of an incredibly talented writer. In the film we are shown how the case of the Clutter family, and ensuing research came to affect Truman Capote, and as a result, he never finished another book. Capote is a brilliantly told film, and Hoffman definitely deserved the Oscar for best actor. For me Capote is a work of sheer brilliance and is definitely a well told film. Other reviewers have praised the cinematography, which of course is breathtaking, but the aspect of this film that truly surpasses any filming method is the brilliant story telling and acting by the actors. Director Brennett Miller has told a masterful story and he is a terrific director. Capote is proof of that.
  • flixsterman
    August 16, 2010
    flixsterman
    Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in one of my all-time favorite performances. For one hour and fifty five minutes, he IS Truman Capote.
  • FrizzDrop
    August 2, 2010
    FrizzDrop
    Very true to Capote, In Cold Blood, and the whole horrible process. Hoffman dazzles, Keener is great as Harper Lee, and the murderers are...murderers.
  • smith44
    February 5, 2010
    smith44
    A Murder Most Foul And An Actor Most Brilliant. Capote is a complex story with uncommon depth and insight into murder and the mind. Played to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman in his Oscar destined performance. In Cold Blood, the book that made and destroyed Capote in one life... read moretime.
  • fb619846742
    February 3, 2010
    fb619846742
    An extremely dark but well-acted look on Truman Capote, and how he manipulated two criminals into thinking he was their friend, when he was just looking to make money off of their tale of how they broke into a small farm house in Kansas and murdered an entire family. The atmosphe... read morere is very downbeat, and the movie is anchored by a simply outstanding performance from the always impressive Philip Seymour Hoffman (is there anything he can't do?). It's closing sections are the most haunting, as the film gives us a look into what the writing of the book cost this selfish, flawed individual, and how the two criminals he vowed to fight for accepted him and trusted him. Clifton Collins Jr. is another standout as one of the men who killed this family, and the movie does a really incredible job humanizing its "monsters", as well as enriching you with how arrogant and self-centered some authors can get.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    February 3, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    A Hitchcockian paced film, most certainly. A chilling look into not just the story of the gruesome Kansas murders, but Capote's obsession into delving into the twisted minds of those murderers. Philip Seymour Hoffman has come a long, long way from playing Dusty in Twister. His pe... read morerformance in this film was sheer brilliance and I can't even begin to understand how to would have attempted to get into this character. From his voice, to the appearance, to the mannerisms, he was fantastic.

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Critic Reviews

J. Hoberman
January 5, 2006
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Capote is a cool and polished hall of mirrors reflecting the ways in which Truman Capote came to write (and be written by) In Cold Blood. Full Review

Steve Murray
October 29, 2005
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hoffman goes beyond impersonation to something close to possession. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
October 29, 2005
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Skillfully and economically put together. Full Review

Peter Howell
October 28, 2005
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

The almost perfectly realized Capote -- stumbling only in the lack of shading it gives Keener's and Greenwood's characters -- offers a sobering glimpse at what the author had to give up of his soul to... Full Review

Roger Moore
October 28, 2005
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

A meditation on the artist's obligations to the art and to society and lines that blur when you cross them. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
October 28, 2005
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

It's a fully realized look at a time and place as well as a riveting study of career obsessions warring with a sense of justice. Full Review

Rick Groen
October 28, 2005
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

I came in expecting Hoffman's tour de force and left with a fuller appreciation of the quiet yet lethal film around him. Lethal, because what it says about the writer's craft, about what often gets de... Full Review

Tom Long
October 28, 2005
Tom Long, Detroit News

It is complex and thoughtful and tragic in the end. And it is certainly one of the best movies of the year.

Terry Lawson
October 28, 2005
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

The best movie about journalism since All the President's Men, and one of the best films about writing ever made.

Bill Muller
October 27, 2005
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic

This spare, uncompromising portrait not only examines what drove the author but delves into the ethics of journalists who identify with their subjects, or pretend to, in order to report their stories. Full Review

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  • Which actor was in Capote, Mission Impossible 3, and Red Dragon  Answer »
  • Phillip Seymore Hoffman won an Oscar for his role in capote ?  Answer »
  • Who plays Harper Lee, famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird and longtime friend of Truman Capote, in the film Capote? (Hint: She was also in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.)  Answer »
  • Philip Seymore Hoffman won an Oscar for his role in what film ?   Answer »
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