Capote

Philip Seymour Hoffman transforms himself into the Breakfast at Tiffany's author Truman Capote, based on the book Gerald Clarke and adapted by Dan Futterman, Capote is director Bennett Miller's feature film debut and it follows the high pitch voiced novelist as he researched the violent murder of a family in Kansas, forming a relationship with the killer during their interviews, all which led him to write the best novel of the century, In Cold Blood, a novel that took him almost six years to write, and destroyed his life in the process, making him unable to finish another book for the rest of his life.

I'll start with the movie and leave PSH for the end because he is the only reason to watch the movie, even if is boring like in this case.
The movie follows Capote and novelist Harper Lee (around the time her To Kill a Mockingbird was published) as they travel to Kansas to investigate the killings. Capote is weird looking and it's worse when he speaks so Harper could help him interview the town people without freaking them out. Then the police catches the two killers, Harper leaves the picture, and Capote starts interviewing them, emphasizing in Perry Smith.
The movie is very slow paced, specially during the Capote-Perry interviews which happen again and again like 10 times, always showing us how Capote got from New York to Kansas, how he was searched by the guards, and then getting into the actual cell. And it's all also very uneventful, as Capote becomes fascinated by Perry, but he never asks him about the actual murders.

But I guess is all about the acting. Catherine Keener plays Harper Lee and I think the movie have been much better had she been more in it. After the killers are caught she disappears and that's when the movie loses the little bit of energy it had. She has an weird but great chemistry with Capote and it worked great.
Then there's Chris Cooper who plays Kansas Sheriff Alvin Dewey, who was the best friend of the man of the family that was murdered. His scenes too dramatic maybe, with him in a silent crying at various times just thinking about what happened, and everybody else around him just looking at him getting all emotional. I think it was a little too much, specially since the character is not important on the whole. Perry Smith is played by Clifton Collins Jr. and it's a great performance too. His countless with Hoffman are great and even though the process got repetitive, the acting was very solid.

And finally Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the best actors working today. A man that completely morphs into his roles and you forget who he is, because the person you are seeing on the screen is not an actor playing a character, and it's real. Be it Lester Bangs or Scotty J., this guy can make any character real, and Truman Capote is no exception. He is perfect here. From the pitch perfect voice to all the mannerisms. It's an amazing performance with a few emotional scenes that are sure to give him at least an Oscar nomination and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins, though I think I'm yet to see the best performance of the year, probably coming from Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain or Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line.

The quiteness of the movie is exasperating, as the score is very low key and forgettable, and non present in many scenes with the characters just looking out a window or at each other without saying anything. And the colorless cinematography, while very well suited for the mood of the Kansas scenes, make the movie even more tiring.
I'm recommending Capote because of Hoffman, because he's a marvel to watch, but the movie bored me, made me sleepy, and it doesn't have anything else worthy in it.