Capote

There is one reason - and it's a very good one - to catch Capote.

Philip Seymour Hoffman.

He's brilliant. He really is. He's absolutely disappeared under the skin of Truman Capote and brought him to life. You just can't help but to hang onto his every word, watch his every move.

I've never known much about Capote, just like in the last biopic I saw - of Johnny Cash's life in Walk The Line - but I have adored his books Breakfast At Tiffany's and In Cold Blood.

The film tells the story behind the writing of that book, which is based on a true crime - the murder of a family in Kansas.

Having read the book late last year, I found myself caught up in the movie, after which I realised I might have to rethink the book.

For Capote had such great conflict within himself about this book, as he had said he wouldn't publish it until the killers' executions so that it wouldn't affect their appeals. He so wants to finish the book, get it over and done with, get the public's and critics' acclaim. Yet he cares for one of the killers. To put it bluntly, he would like them to be executed so the book can be published but at the same time, he doesn't want them to be executed.

I have to admit that at the end of the movie, I looked at my watch and realised it was slightly less than two hours long - I'd presumed it was longer. It's quite a slow show, its got a rather relaxed pace and yet is constantly tense. I did feel that they dropped the character of Harper Lee a bit earlier than necessary, as she brought some saneness into Capote's life. But I don't know, maybe that was the start of his downward spiral.

Go see Capote because of what it is - a film about the life of one of America's greatest writers, in one of the best performances I've seen in a very long time. I hope he wins the Oscar, I reckon he blew away the competition.