NANCAN Blog

I think I've seen all the major films regarding the Clutter murders including the poor remake of "In Cold Blood" with Eric Roberts and Anthony Edwards ... and I thought this film was going to be in the same category when compared to "Capote". First of all, I really, really like Phillip Seymour Hoffman and thought he definitely deserved his Oscar .... but I really wish he'd received it for "Boggie Nights" and that "Infamous" had come out in another year because Toby Jones IS the very best Capote I have ever seen. This Capote is one very talented and troubled man, all wrapped in a wry, cynical, hilarious and campy outside persona. Not only does Toby Jones physically resemble Capote, he's captured what makes him the worthy subject matter of two films. Different from "Capote", "Infamous" shows you who Capote was before and after writing "In Cold Blood". Capote may have used and abused the two murderers for his book, but it cannot be denied that the many years it took to create his "novel based on fact" didn't take a serious toll on him. The details of how he actually wrote the book, wording phrases by bouncing them off his friends, is particularly interesting. I loved the interviews with his socialite friends, particularly Juliet Stevenson's terrific portrayal of Diana Vreeland. What petty people they were! This film suggests a more complex relationship between Capote and Perry Smith, which most probably was the case since Smith actually left Capote all his worldly belongings when he was executed. Hoffman's Capote was out of place in Holcomb, Kansas ... by the Jones Capote stood out like a neon sign ... and his dialogue about this reality is simply wonderful. Supporting cast includes Sandra Bullock (finally in something worth watching)  as Harper Lee, Bogdanovich as Capote's agent, Jeff Daniels as the DA and Signorney Weaver as Babe Paley complement Jones as Capote very nicely indeed. The only flaw of this film would be the casting of Mark Ruffalo as a beefy Perry Smith, but who could top Robert Blake's unforgettable performance anyway?

Every actor should be so fortunate as Warren Beatty to debut in a film as good as this one is. As hapless Bud Stamper, he stutters and stumbles his way through his turbulent teenage years during the 1920's where he and his family are very large fish in a very small Kansas town. Overpowering father, Pat Hingle, is at his peak as attempts to live his lost youth through young Bud. And, then there's Natalie Wood who is smitten with Bud and he her, but this is the 1920's and poor Bud has a good devil and and bad devil on his shoulders pushing him forward and pulling him back. Poor Natalie goes crazy and is sent away to what seems like a very sanitized asylum for a few years to "get over Bud." After Bud's life comes crashing in on him in the early dawn of a gritty NYC morning, the two lovers are briefly reunited years later only to shrug their shoulders at what boils down to much ado about nothing. It's no wonder that Beatty went on to do as many good films as he did because he's just a natural here. (Oh, yeah, that really is a young Phyllis Diller doing a Sophie Tucker in the nightclub scene.)

There's almost nothing I don't like about this film about a garage band's one hit wonder. Written, directed and produced by Tom Hanks, it's a wonderful slice of the early 60's in middle America. The cast is believable because you feel you met a few of these people while growing up. Hanks captured a moment in time when things were just beginning to change on many levels in our lives. Plus, Liv Tyler delivers one of the very best movie lines ever about "wasting thousands of kisses" on her self-absorbed boyfriend, perfectly portrayed by Johnathon Schaech. Funny, sad, poignant - and the song ain't bad either.