| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
B |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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Talk about dramatic deja vu!
by Ben Thousand (movies profile)
Dec 30, 2006
9
of
11 people found this review helpful
"Infamous" tracks Capote's journey from high society to the horrors of the Kansas farmhouse where a father, mother and two children were bound, gagged and killed by shotgun blasts at close range. It follows Capote as he writes "In Cold Blood" and waits for the execution of the convicted killers.
Don't blame yourself if you're having a case of dramatic deja vu.
Much of this same territory was covered a year ago in "Capote," the movie that brought Philip Seymour Hoffman the Best Actor Oscar and earned nominations for picture, director, supporting actress Catherine Keener and adapted screenplay.
Now comes "Infamous," also just under two hours and rated R but with a different cast, crew, source material and stand-in for Kansas (Canada in "Capote," Texas here).
This one is based on a George Plimpton biography, and the movie, written and directed by Douglas McGrath, borrows the style of the book and sprinkles the story with interviews with actors playing Capote friends and foes, staged against a New York skyline.
It's impossible not to spend part of "Infamous" making mental notes on how it compares to its 2005 predecessor, "Capote". It's as if you're scoring a series of two-person races: Hoffman vs. Jones, Keener vs. Bullock, Chris Cooper vs. Daniels and Clifton Collins Jr. vs. Daniel Craig as killer Perry Smith.
Hoffman was better at conveying Capote's torment, but Toby Jones is a remarkable ringer for Capote. The illusion that you're watching Capote himself is immediate and astonishing. |
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