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Capone Says You Should Give INFAMOUS A Well Deserved Chance!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here. I'm not going to lie to you: I'm up to my nutsack in Chicago Film Festival screenings, interviews, you name it. And shortly, I'll be unleashing comprehensive reports and a bunch of cool interviews. The Festival is also my excuse for being a little lax on submitting my usual round of reviews for the last couple of weeks. But there was one film I did think warranted a special mention, a film that probably won't do well at the box office, which in no way justifies you not going to see it. And I'm glad to see a couple other reviews of this film on AICN. But here's my look at INFAMOUS...
It’s certainly not the first time in recent years that two films have been made about the same subject matter. United 93 and World Trade Center certainly prove that you can produce two movies about the same moment in time with strong results. Of course, a few years back, Deep Impact and Armageddon coming out in the same summer proved that you could make two shitty movies about the same thing as well. You can even make two killer films based on the exact same source material, as Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont proved. Usually the first released of the two films gets the most attention and makes the most money, and that’s not always the best thing. But I cannot remember a time when two biographical films did such an astute job covering the exact same time period in a person’s life with such remarkable results. Last year, Capote did a sensitive and disquieting job capturing Truman Capote’s life while researching and writing "In Cold Blood," a book that not only changed his life but also changed the face of nonfiction writing. The work rightfully earned its star Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar and the film much acclaim.
Almost a year to the date, we get INFAMOUS, which addresses the same key figures as CAPOTE in the same years, but does it better. And thank the moviemaking gods, we don’t have to pick which one we get to see. If you think you fulfilled your art film quota for the year with Capote, and don’t feel like seeing the same story again a year later, please reconsider. INFAMOUS is as different a film compared to CAPOTE as it is similar. It places Truman’s role in history and society a little more gracefully and accurately, and features a centerpiece performance by relative unknown Toby Jones that may actually make you forget Hoffman’s name for a few short hours.
More a stage star than movie star, Jones (maybe best known as the voice of Dobby the House Elf in HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, but also featured in FINDING NEVERLAND, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS, and HBO’s ELIZABETH I) is a mighty force in a small package. This version of the story does a better job of showing us Capote’s place in the social circles of New York City prior to reading about the small-town Kansas murders that changed his life. He lunches and dines and drinks with Manhattan’s elite wives club (represented here by the likes of Hope David, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson, Sigourney Weaver, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Peggy Lee). He is the king of collecting and distributing society gossip, so when he hears about the gruesome murders, he looks upon the story as a source of fresh entertainment for his friends.
He and Harper Lee (Sandra Bullock, who will NOT make you forget Catherine Keener’s rich take on the To Kill a Mockingbird author) travel to Kansas to mix and mingle with the isolated members of the community. Capote and Lee eventually to endear themselves to the guarded citizens thanks in large part to Truman’s endless stories about his associations with celebrities like Bogart and Brando. These tales particularly impress the local sheriff (Jeff Daniels) and his family. When the killers are caught, Truman is right there at the courthouse steps, and he is given unprecedented access to both men, particularly Perry Smith (here played by soon-to-be James Bond, Daniel Craig). Much will be made about a particular scene in INFAMOUS, in which Capote and Smith kiss in Smith’s jail cell. I have no idea whether this actually happened, but the scene adds such a new level of intimacy to their relationship that you start to understand how painful the killer's eventual death was for Truman.
Another improvement upon CAPOTE is a stronger focus on Truman’s writing style. He essentially birthed the idea that it was okay for a nonfiction writer to change a quote as long as the sentiment was left intact. In one sequence, we see Truman struggling to decide between five or six versions of the essentially the same statement from Perry. He picks the one that drives home the narrative drama and not the one that presents the most accurate wording.
I think Capote does a better job of showing the complete and utter depression that Truman sunk into after Perry was executed, but this takes nothing away from Jones’s astonishing performance, which is equally worthy of Oscar consideration. If this film had come out first, I think Jones would have stood an equal chance of winning a statue as Hoffman. Director Douglas McGrath (NICHOLAS NICKLEBY; EMMA) takes a remarkably similar approach to his visual style as Bennett Miller did with CAPOTE. The barren landscapes of Kansas, the vibrant New York nightclub scene, and the way Capote seemed to clash in some circles as easily as he fits right In with others.
INFAMOUS is at least as good as CAPOTE; I think better. And if you’re still struggling with the idea of seeing two versions of this captivating story, consider this like two equally riveting versions of a Shakespeare play (and no, I’m not comparing either of these films to Shakespeare). I’ve probably seen 10 stage and screen versions of HAMLET, but it never stops being a great experience each time. A great film is a great film, and a great story is a great story, no matter how many different ways you see or hear it. Give INFAMOUS its well-deserved chance.
Capone
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surprisingly empty.
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Not that anyone is going to see this movie anyway.
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after the borefest that was Capote, it can't be too much worse. of course, it goes without saying that "borefest" = "everything except Hoffman."
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I realize it's a different situation when we complain about DVD double dipping but how come Hollywood winds up making two movies about Capote within one year? Are the studios really competing over making a better Capote movie? How about The Illusionist and The Prestige? Remember Dante's Peak and Volcano? Then came Deep Impact and Armageddon? I suppose originality is in short supply.
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With all due respect, I found "Capote" slightly overrated, although packed with powerhouse performances. With regard to honesty and accuracy, any real filmfan always takes these things with grains of salt... HOWEVER... one like of Capone's review is telling about not only his, but just about all the Aintitcool staff... "It places Truman’s role in history and society a little more gracefully and accurately"... then goes on to mention the infamous 'kiss' scene...and infers he can't be certain of its authenticity... like politics and world views, the casual fan can safely assume that most editors of this site get the majority of their knowledge and opinions from the movies... certainly Harry does. As for the rest... good writing can overcome critical short-comings... after all, in the end these are just movies...
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An incredibly obvious statement, but one that I think passes over most of us a lot of the time. How important, really, are these things?
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...bloody Capote. The guy is excruciatingly annoying. Regardless of who 'plays' him, he is still annoying. Baz Lhurrmans 'Alexander' anybody?
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She tends to revize the same couple of themes, but she does it so pleasantly. Emma, Nicholas Nickleby and Bagger Vance are terrific listens. I'll buy the CD, skip the movie. Capote just isn't that fascinating a person, particularly since his influence probably did more harm than good to journalism.
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Damn you Michael Bay
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I have to tell you all that World Trade Center is opening to derisive reviews everywhere outside the USA. To quote Lynda Barry; 'Put it in the shape of the cross; nothing in the shape of the cross ever gets less than a B'. Sacred subject; people are scared to say that it's pompous poe-faced drivel, poorly acted, cliche ridden and redundant. Everything United 93 was not and even worse than Alexander.
On Capote; Jone the the Capote we all saw on The Tonight Show and the one I recognise from his work and from his letters and interviews. Not the glacial bulk of Hoffman (amazing in a miscast part) but the little sparkly prancing fairy of the lunch table. The aged and malicious child. -
Capote invented the non-fiction novel; a corruption of journalism in te cause of art in which the imagination is encouraged to colour and fill in the gaps in the physical record. I don't think that Capote could object to a little psychosexual theorising, particularly if it means that he gets to snog Daniel Criag onscreen.
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...nice scores, even if she does seem to only be interested in scoring the same genre of film. NICE is certainly the word I would use to describe her work. Nicholas Nickleby was good, and I wasn't too unhappy with Oliver Twist. Chocolat was great, but her best by far is 'The Cider House Rules'.
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...I live in China, and I just watched the movie CHAOS (last house on the left 'remake') and it has an AICN quote on it saying "...a well crafted horror film. CHAOS is the worst nightmare you have ever had". Is this for real? Did someone here really say this? If so, I demand to know who! The film was crap. Not VERY crap mind you, but still it fits snugly into the category of crapness. It certainly wasn't the worst nightmare I have ever had. I would say 'Dead Birds' still holds that top spot.
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...1998, Antz vs. A Bug's Life. Both terrific in different ways.
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Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Absolutely NOTHING like her pretty, Oscar-bait scores, and totally dark and awesome. Almost Herrmann-esque.
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No one wants to see another Capote movie. Even if it was getting universally excellent reviews. But it's not. Beyond this site, most reviewers are lukewarm on it (66% on rotten tomatoes).
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Beloved. Portman is up there as my second fav. composer (first being Elfman, although his stuff is all starting to sound the same). And Daniel Craig in a little man-on-man action? Colour me there.
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Among other shared subject matter between the two, Marlowe wrote Jew of Malta and Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice - two great plays with similar subject matter, one even influenced the other, etc.... Better than the exact same text treated differently which is not really the case here. And I'm sick of people bashing Capote. It was a great film - my favortie of last year.
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...is Beloved, a score I recommend to all AICN score lovers. Why? Because it's unique--it's basically a horror movie score done for voices and small ensemble. No shrieking strings, but an intense, emotional mood throughout. Definitely for those nights home alone reading Poe. Great call. Manchurian Candidate I'm not so sure about--I've listened to it several times and can't recall a note of it--subdued is an understatement. But I'll take your advice and give it a few more plays and pay closer attention (I got bored and started reading something the other times I tried). Cider House is another good call, though the "Portman variation" I most enjoy (she uses similar themes in Cider House, Emma and this third one) would be Mona Lisa Smile. I have the score-only promo and granted it sounds VERY much like Cider House but damn if I play the thing the most of all her scores. She has a Delerue-like ability to write sad but pretty themes.
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Capote wasn't a GREAT film. Pickpocket was a great film, Capote was ok.
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