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Sep 03, 2006
Truman Capote INHABITS Philip Seymour Hoffman
3 of 5 found this helpful I was bowled over by Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Capote. He was masterful and had every detail of Truman Capote's quirky mannerisms and fine nuances. He truly deserved his Oscar for this role!
The film covers the seven-year period of Capote's life when he was researching and writing "In Cold Blood."
Clifton Collins, Jr. is thoroughly convincing as the disturbed young murderer, Perry Smith, while Chris Cooper plays the role of Alvin Dewey (the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who was primarily responsible for breaking the case) with a certain remoteness and sharp eye on Capote's motives.
Catherine Keener is fascinating as Capote's dear friend Harper Lee (whose own novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," is soon to hit the market) as she accompanies Capote on some of his research trips to Kansas and lends him an ear back in NYC.
Like actor Chris Cooper, this film struck close to me personally as we were both children and teens during this seven-year period and lived in the Kansas City area. We both well remember when the Clutter family was murdered in their farmhouse in rural Kansas, all the news coverage, the capture of the murderers, their trial, appeals, and eventual execution.
Jan 13, 2007
Dark and Compelling
2 of 2 found this helpful Vincent LaMarca (Robert DiNero), a veteran NYC homicide detective, wrestles with his own demons. Though he doesn't expose it to others -- not even his girlfriend Michelle (Frances McDormand) to whom he can't truly commit -- he's saddened that he abandoned his young son after a particularly bitter divorce. His ex-wife (Patti LuPone) despises him and turned the boy against Vincent so it was pretty difficult to keep a relationship with the child as he grows up.
When a drug dealer's body washes ashore in NYC, Vince and his partner Reg (George Dzundza) follow the evidence to Long Beach, Long Island, where the man was murdered. Being in Long Beach brings back all sorts of memories for Vince as that's where he grew up and got his first start as a cop. Long Beach has deteriorated badly since Vince was there and is now a haven for druggies and crime.
The investigation leads to Vince's son, Joey (James Franco), an addict who lives in the deterioration of Long Beach and who now must be found by the cops. Of course, Vince is taken off the case but media gets wind of the fact that Vince's own father had been executed for the kidnapping and murder of a child on Long Beach when Vince was eight years old.
Things get even more complicated when a cop (actually, Vince's partner) is killed while trying to capture Joey.
Can Vince somehow save Joey from suicide-by-cops or redeem something of a relationship with his only child?
DeNiro gives the right degree of pensiveness and contemplation to his role as a troubled yet earnest man. McDormand is perfect as the woman who loves him but has never heard the truth about why he is such a complex and private man.
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Aug 15, 2006
A Powerful Study of Character
One has to be in the right mood to watch "Tape." It's intensely psychological and, at times, disturbing.
It takes a little getting used to the method used to make this film but ultimately, it's the best way to tell this particular story. Completely filmed in one room with a cast of three and no background music, it has the feel of an amateur film despite the fact that it was directed by Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused," "The Newton Boys" and others). The story plays straight through without flashbacks or lapse of time between scenes, and the camera is mostly hand-held making for some jumpiness and ping-pong shots back and forth between characters. Once you move beyond these stylistic elements, you can get into the story.
Vince (Ethan Hawk) has come back to Flint, Michigan, to see the debut of his old high school pal's first film at a local Film Festival. He's staying in a seedy motel room awaiting the arrival of his pal Johnny (Robert Sean Leonard). After 10 years, the reunion is exciting and the fellows have some fun joking around, but it doesn't take long to see that Vince and Johnny have gone in very different directions. Vince is a hard-drinking, cokehead drug dealer while Johnny is a USC film grad set on making a name for himself as a film director.
Vince is dead set on getting Johnny to confess to an indescretion Vince is sure Johnny committed in the waning days of high school. He plays significant head games on Johnny for an hour or so and then calls and invites over their high school friend Amy (Uma Thurman) who is an assistant district attorney in Flint. Vince wants Amy to hear the tape of Johnny which Vince secretly captured during their conversation.
To tell more than this would give away the story but this is a fascinating character study of three very different people.