Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

bernardjtaylor I finally caught up with Infamous and found it one of the most intriguing movies I have seen in years. Toby Jones gave a much more rounded and three-dimensional portrayal of Capote than Hoffman's in Capote. All the performances were excellent and I was totally absorbed from start to finish. Sandra Bullock, as Harper Lee, gives one of the more nuanced performances I have seen from her. In fact, all the characters were portrayed with subtlety, without any grandstanding. Jeff Daniels, as the main lawman in the case of the murders that Capote goes to Kansas to investigate, is a good example of this, as is Daniel Craig. Anyone who has not seen this movie should do so asap.

mark.waltz Gore Vidal described his voice as what a brussel sprout would sound like if it could talk. I prefer to think of him as a live action version of Droopy the dog. This fascinating and aggravating man was gayer than Liberace, hanging out with some rather odd high class women (don't you dare refer them as eccentric, even if they do have their maid iron their money!), and ending up in a relationship with a man who has sworn off women after his wife betrayed him. The world of Truman Capote is explored in this colorful drama, focusing on his research on a real murder that influenced "In Cold Blood". When Capote visits the actual scene of the crime, you see how true to life he structured the story.Toby Jones followed up the excellent performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman with an equally flamboyant one, yet one filled with many layers. Dressed in drag to fool people he wants to interview, he looks like Granny from the Sylvester/Tweety Bird cartoons, but in spite of how animated he is, you really believe that this is exactly Capote lived. Such actresses like Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver and Juliette Stevenson, the cigarette smoking "eccentric" with the money ironing fetish. Bullock is outstanding as the legendary Harper Lee of "To Kill a Mockingbird" fame. Jones is hysterical in a scene where he impresses the locals by mentioning his acquaintances from Hollywood's golden age. True or not, the way he tells it is fascinating.Having only seen Capote, the real deal, in a few interviews, all I can do is make speculations about what he was like in real life. It gives more insight into what he was as like around normal people, and he is as fascinated by the hicks from Kansas as he is with big city celebrities. With these mid- westerners obviously aware of his sexual orientation yet not shunning him has to be credited to his charm. Capote does get acidic and bitchy at times, but it's more out of frustration than his own inner demons that cause nasty queens in the first place.His interactions are also quite incisive with the killers, with Daniel Craig and Lee Pace adding individual nuances to the personalities of the killers to where they seem almost human even after committing such heinous acts. Jeff Daniels is excellent as the local law enforcement who is alternately annoyed and amused by Jones. Some crude remarks flung at Capote in the prison cell- block might offend sensitive ears, but a story that Capote tells in regards to how he deals with such ill-mannered advances is hysterical. Period detail is excellent, the writing is something that Capote would applaud, and the history lesson is invaluable. The ending is heart-wrenching as a love of sorts develops between the quietly masculine Craig and the fruity Jones, and reveals something about Capote as he watches Craig face his tragic fate. I never thought I'd have sympathy for such brutal killers, but the writing is so powerful it did just exactly that.

cllrdr-1 Bennett Miller's "Capote" with Phillip Seymour Hoffman got their first, leaving Doug McGrath's "Infamous" to suffer in comparison. Hoffman is superb and deserved his Oscar. But Jones, while not as skilled a performer (his Capote is more an impersonation than a character study) has more to deal with -- particularly as regards his romance with Perry Smith (a devastating Daniel Craig) I quite like the execution scene in "Infamous" particularly for its depiction of Capote overcome with sadness and running out of the chamber -- not willing to watch Smith die. But what's most markedly different about the two films is the way "Infamous" depicts Capote's New York social set: Babe Paley, Diana Vreeland, etc. They of course figured in what was to have been his next work "Answered Prayers." But when a chapter from that proposed magnum opus about New York society, "La Cote Basque: 1965" was published in "Esquire" magazine it caused a scandal that lost Capote all his friend. "Infamous" only mentions the book's title and notes he didn't write anything more substantial after "In Cold Blood." That's because of "La Cote Basque:1965." Therefore there's a THIRD Truman Capote film to be made about his unraveling. It's quite a story. The "swans" (the glamorous wealthy women he catered to) toss him out. He descends into drink, drugs and "Studio 54." Andy Warhol, who Capote had dismissed years before as an undesirable "fan" comes to his aide -- giving him the pages of his "Inter/View" magazine to write whatever he wants. He writes a few things there, notably "Handcarved Coffins" -- another true crime murder story that's even optioned by Hollywood (never made alas) But it's all over. His breakdown on the "Stanley Siegel Show" is indelible, and would make a great climax for a biopic of Capote's collapse. Anyone up for this? It could be really something.

eddiez61 I was just 12 minutes into this one when the itching started. My skin was beginning to crawl, not because Toby Jones was eerily reanimating the ultra eccentric persona of Truman Capote - no, he wasn't - but because his and everyone else's clipped, stylized diction was grating on me. They're all so emphatically acting, and that's the LAST thing you EVER want to catch an actor doing. I'd rather watch cattle slaughtered or Taylor Swift in concert than endure tedious thespian excesses. Even the pseudo documentary interviews are stilted and unnatural. Very disappointing.The previous year's Capote being an all around fine production, this later one seemed intent on confirming it's own inferior status. Many opportunities to shine are squandered with maudlin emotional set pieces and dreadfully predictable dramatic confrontations. Without giving anything critical away I can say that Mr. Jones' attempt to suggest Truman's shame for his duplicitous treachery involves him holding his face as he nearly cries to his own image in a mirror. Subtle, aye? The film does redeem itself somewhat with its genuinely charming exploitation of Truman's fabulousness as he endears himself to the local bumpkins with fantastic tales of celebrity glamor. But Toby Jones does more of a restrained caricaturization then a wholly fleshed out emulation.There's Sandra Bullock - who has the emotional depth of Pippi Longstocking and the vocal inflection of a cheerleader - card-boarding her way through the flattest Harper Lee ever put to celluloid. (I think there's only been 3 film "Harper Lee" characters, but this one would still be the dullest if there existed 300.) Daniel Craig is solid as the doomed murderer, but all his efforts are undermined by faulty direction, editing and dialog. When he expresses interest in Truman's Hollywood tales, we are expected to sympathize with him, identify with him. But I actually pitied him, and I felt I was being manipulated. He nearly gushes like a teenybopper would over Elvis. Strange. Hope Davis, who is normally electric and hypnotic is here too reduced to a 2-dimensional set decoration, totally wasted. Jeff Daniels is a constant pleasure, so comfortably middle aged and paunchy, but again, his fine work is constantly sabotaged by corny dialog and unfocused emotional clarity.Phillip Seymour Hoffman may have neglected the sparkling aspect of Truman's persona but he created a deeply conflicted, sinister character, nearly equal in depravity to the convicted murderer. A very effective, profound dramatic choice. Though the title of this one is meant to apply equally to both Perry and Truman, this film often seems too enamored with and even celebrating the famed writer's transgressions. It's trying to have it both ways, wanting its pretty cake and eating it too. That's a mistake.It's impossible to judge this cinematic version of the story behind Truman's reportage of the Clutter family murder on its own terms as it so closely matches the earlier film in form and intent. I have little choice but to place them opposite one another on the scales. Though Infamous goes to great lengths to dazzle us with period accurate attire and decor, it often forgets its own stated mission - to explore the brutal crime's impact on the local community. It got just as distracted by its own flash and glitz as so many complimentary viewers did. Ironically, for all its glam and posh and élan, this one feels uglier. It's less honest, not as committed, and more sensationalistic. Infamous isn't ignored because of it's unfortunate release following Capote, it's ignored because it almost deserves to be. I suppose I could go on denigrating this overly earnest bit of style conscious hokum, but that would just be like shooting fish in a barrel. Like shooting a family in their sleep.