In Cold Blood secured author Truman Capote a place in literary history. Already having written Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Capote was a successful novelist but with In Cold Blood he is credited with creating a new genre, the ‘non-fiction novel.’ Capote spent five years investigating the case. From the investigation through the trial and all the way to the execution of the two murders, Capote was there. Capote, the film, captures those five years.

Truman Capote (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) came across a small article in the New York Times in 1959. The article told of the brutal slayings of the Clutter family in Holcomb Kansas. Herb Clutter, his wife, a son and a teenage daughter were executed during a robbery (the robbers got away with a paltry $40). Capote was immediately intrigued by the horrible murders of the All-American family in a solid, rural All-American town. He and childhood friend, Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), author of To Kill a Mockingbird, immediately set out for Kansas. Fascinated with the townspeople and the case, what started out as an article quickly turned into a series that eventually turned into a book.

When the suspects, Richard Hickcock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) were apprehended, Capote was there. He remained there with them until his book has a proper ending… their execution. Over the years, Capote got to know both men, especially Perry Smith whom Capote fell in love with (to what extent is still debated today). Despite his feelings, Capote strung along, cajoled and outright lied to get his story told. The ends, he felt, justified the means. History proved him right.

Truman Capote was an odd, slight, flamboyant little, man (only 5”4) with a distinctly high-pitched nasally voice. Phillip Seymour Hoffman nails him. But he goes beyond an impersonation and portrays a man that even while he is ‘falling for’ Smith, still manages to manipulate him for the sake of the story. When Smith reads an article about Capote’s upcoming book, In Cold Blood, he is livid at the sensational title. Capote, knowing full well that he personally selected that title, assures Smith that the author of the article made it up because he hadn’t come up with one yet. It shows both the level of his deception as well as his need to be liked by Smith.

Hickcock is barely seen in the film which makes sense because it’s Smith and his relationship with Capote that becomes the driving force behind In Cold Blood. How else can you explain the fact that Smith is viewed sympathetically by Capote even though he and not Hickcock killed all four people?

The fact that Capote could love Smith and yet still use him and even wish that Smith’s appeal would fail so that he could finally end his book (with a dramatic execution) speaks volumes about the man himself. Hoffman portrays his inner conflict. At times, Truman even he seems repulsed by his own behavior.

The ‘action’ in Capote is mostly emotional and internal, so at times, it can appear to be slow but in all actuality it isn’t. It’s a complicated film that gets into the mind of a complicated man.