Capote - 8.5

Ah, movie season. It's always amazing how November arrives and movies magically stop sucking. Capote is a very strong movie. If you've heard anything about it you know the summary judgment is that Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in an amazing performance as the title character. As contrary as I usually am, I can't disagree here. In fact, I'll just hand out my Best Actor Oscar pick now, and be done with it. There's a non-negligible chance he'll get shafted, but I very much doubt there will be a better performance this year. As good as Hoffman's Capote was, Catherine Keener's Harper Lee absolutely stole 2 or 3 scenes from him. She was amazing and I really hope she at least gets a nomination for best Supporting Actress. So, the acting was great, but that was only possible because the script and directing were both rock solid. All in all, it was just an impressively made film.

I'll close with negatives, but they're mostly details. I really did like the movie a lot. My most substantive gripe is that the pace was a little bit too slow, especially at the beginning. My other complaint --- well, it's more a comment than a real complaint --- is that there probably isn't much rewatchability here. The most obvious reference point for this movie, both content-wise and thematically, is Dead Man Walking, which I consider a great great movie, but I've only seen once and have no plans to watch again. Capote is a deep, depressing movie (I felt like I needed to listen to Alvin and the Chipmunks or something to cheer me up when I left the theatre.) As such, it probably doesn't lend itself to casual viewing.

Capote is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. I'd argue that it and Crash are a substantial step above anything else I've seen. Highly recommended.