January 21, 2006

Capote

Yawn.

I just don't get the big deal. I realize I differ from most of the country's top critics and most of my friends, but to me it's a 3 star film, not a 4 star film. Oh, it's got the lighting and intrusive score and emotional development of a 4 star film. It goes through all the motions that a serious art-house (or blockbuster) film is supposed to go through. It just didn't impress me that much. It's not that it's bad, it's just not great. And there are several 2005 releases I liked a lot more - Junebug, Mysterious Skin and Syriana among them. It's basically just a well-done biopic (and out of the 2005 biopics I liked Walk the Line much more than this).

And I suppose if I'm commenting on this film I have to comment on Philip Seymour Hoffman. I kind of hate to since I like him much less than a lot of my friends. I think he's done some great work (Happiness, Punch Drunk Love, Boogie Nights), but too often I think he (REALLY) overacts. Of course I think that about a number of our most respected actors. People like Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino have turned in superb performances, but more than once .... But I digress. P.S. Hoffman has talent, there's no question about that. And when he really makes a turn in a character it can be as sharp and direct and devastating as the work of any actor in the business. But he also returns to a lot of the same body tics again and again and again - and honestly I thought a lot of his work in this film was a one-note impersonation. A good impersonation - but that's not acting in a sense that I find especially compelling. Again, as with the film, it's not that I think he's bad in this. But I've seen a lot of actors this year put out work that I preferred - Joseph Gordon Levitt, Romain Duris, Cillian Murphy and Joaquin Phoenix among them.

So, if I was grading this movie I'd give it a B. It's a solid effort - but I think the hype about it is exaggerated.

Posted by armand at January 21, 2006 08:33 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Movies


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