Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his intense portrayal of Truman Capote
CAPOTE (Bennett Miller, 2005)
St. Agnes Library
444 Amsterdam Ave. between 82nd & 83rd Sts.
Saturday, March 8, free, 2:00
212-621-0619
www.nypl.org
www.sonyclassics.com
In November 1959, Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) brutally murdered a Kansas family. After reading a small piece about the killings in the New York Times, New Yorker writer Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) sets out with his research assistant, Harper “Nell” Lee (Catherine Keener), to cover the story from a unique angle, which soon becomes the workings of the classic nonfiction novel In Cold Blood. Capote tells police chief Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper) right off the bat that he cares only about the story, not what happens to the killers, which does not endear him to the local force. But when the murderers are captured, Capote begins a dangerous relationship with Smith, who comes to think of the writer as a true friend, while Capote gets caught up deeper than he ever thought possible. Based on the exhaustive biography by Gerald Clarke, Capote is a slow-moving character study featuring excellent acting and some interesting surprises, even for those who thought they knew a lot about the party-loving chronicler of high society and high living. Hoffman, who just died from a drug overdose, earned an Oscar for portraying the socialite author, who was played the following year by Toby Jones in Douglas McGrath’s Infamous, which was based on a book by George Plimpton. Capote, which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Bennett Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Keener), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Dan Futterman), is screening for free on March 8 at 2:00 at the NYPL’s recently renovated St. Agnes branch on the Upper West Side in a special tribute to Hoffman, a native New Yorker who left us well before his time, playing a longtime New Yorker who also died too young.