Film Reviews

Infamous

• Rating:
• Director: Douglas McGrath
• Starring: Daniel Craig
• Details: US / 110mins (16).

Bennet Miller's Capote was released to rave reviews in 2005, so it comes as some surprise that another film about the same character and same story would be released so quick on its heels. Although similar in theme and plot, both movies derive their inspiration from different books: Capote was adapted from Gerald Clarke's book; Infamous from George Plimpton's. Plimpton's Capote is more of a callous parasite than Clarke's and this is what director McGrath homed in on. In what is a mirror image of Capote, Infamous's plot follows novelist Truman Capote (Jones) as he travels to a small town in Kansas to research his new book, based on the real life killings of a family, and along for the ride is his best friend Harper Lee (Bullock).Capote blags a personal relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith (Craig), but is forced to question his own motives. It's another in-depth exploration into the writing of In Cold Blood, his first non-fiction novel, but this time the concentration seems to be on Capote himself. It's confusing as to what story Douglas McGrath actually wants to tell: is it the story behind the novel or the novelist? Few could blame McGrath's indecisiveness, because after watching Jones play the writer, one could suspect that McGrath travelled back to the '50s, kidnapped Capote from a Manhattan party, handed him a script and pointed a camera at him. If Hoffman's subtler performance hadn't already beat him to it, Jones would be the definitive Capote, such is his screen magnetism. It looks like McGrath realised he had an outstanding performance on his hands and couldn't decide which direction to take his film, and the end result is something rather unfocussed.

Review by Gavin Burke