August 31, 2006

Venice. Infamous.

Infamous "[T]he good news is that it's not a bad effort," announces Time Out's Dave Calhoun. "The bad news, though, is that Infamous, in its focus on the writing of In Cold Blood and Capote's ambiguous, varied motives for completing that work, is in many ways a carbon copy of the concerns and themes of Capote. Worse, it doesn't handle those same concerns as well as its predecessor.... All that was painted grey in Capote becomes black-and-white in Infamous. It's an inferior approach to a character as complicated, as multi-faced as Truman Capote."

"[T]here was an integrity and character-complexity to the 2005 release that's missing from this glossier biopic," finds Variety's David Rooney. Still, "Sandra Bullock's understated performance as Capote's friend [Harper] Lee is a high point here." On the other hand, "The parade of famous names playing famous names - Sigourney Weaver as Babe Paley, Isabella Rossellini as Marella Agnelli, Peter Bogdanovich as Bennett Cerf, Hope Davis as Slim Keith - is diverting but they're like glamorous wallpaper in a slick package.... Toby Jones is a good physical match for Capote, getting his flamboyant mannerisms and creepy, nasal voice down. But unlike Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning turn, there's no texture, no under-the-skin sense of the conflict between Capote's ambition for his book and his compassion for, and attraction to, Perry."

Updated through 9/3.

Updates, 9/1: There's hope yet. Lee Marshall in Screen Daily: "Infamous is a fascinating film, dramatically more rewarding than Capote, and anchored by a mesmeric performance from British actor Toby Jones which more than measures up to last year's Oscar-winning turn by Philip Seymour Hoffman."

Both are "brilliant movies," insists the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt.

Updates, 9/2: Blogging for the Telegraph, Hugh Davies raves.

Boyd van Hoeij focuses on the contrasts between the duelling Capotes.

So how did it come to pass that two films addressing the same chapter in Capote's life would be made all but simultaneously (the release of Infamous was withheld nearly a year)? Ray Pride pieces the story together at Movie City Indie.

Update, 9/3: Jason Solomons interviews Toby Jones for the Observer. Guess what the first question is.



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Posted by dwhudson at August 31, 2006 2:38 PM

Comments

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see Daniel Craig as Perry Smith (!). I heard some slightly more positive buzz on this one elsewhere, maybe it was in Premiere Mag? But it's going to be hard to live down comparisons at this point...

cp

Posted by: Craig P at August 31, 2006 3:05 PM

To be honest, it's possible I may be interviewing Toby Jones at Toronto (though I never believe anything until it is digitally recorded) and I'm actually nervous about that white elephant of a question: the comparison. How can you avoid it? How can it not be insulting to him? I guess, as in the past, I'll just hit it on the head. There's no way around it.

Posted by: Michael Guillen at August 31, 2006 4:39 PM

As a Phillip Seymour Hoffman non-fan (I liked him in Twister and the Talented Mr. Ripley, but not much else) who still hasn't watched Capote I find myself oddly eager to see this one.

Posted by: Brian at August 31, 2006 6:00 PM

I don't know if this is true, maybe someone here knows, I heard there is yet another Capote film coming out dealing with the same time period, but this one is CGI with singing and dancing animals playing all the characters.

Posted by: Jerry Lentz at August 31, 2006 8:09 PM

I find this "fight" highly amusing! I would stand in the camp that argues that one is sufficiently different from the other. Infamous is wittier in its first act and much much darker for the rest of the piece.
(http://european-films.net/content/view/349/52/)

Posted by: Boyd van Hoeij at September 1, 2006 12:17 PM

Well, considering I thought Capote was second only to A History of Violence in terms of the best movies of the year last year, I'm a bit wary of this one. Just from the trailers, I expect Infamous to fall short in my opinion. Plus Capote was the break out for Hoffman, Futterman, and Miller. Infamous just looks like Capote stripped of its soul and glammed up with everyone and Gwenyth Paltrow.

Posted by: Dan at September 2, 2006 12:10 PM