Infamous

Aroview: Beaten to the punch, this second take on Truman Capote’s infamy suffers inevitably from de-ja vu, yet has plenty new to offer as an alternate interpretation on the people and events behind ‘In Cold Blood’.

With larger-than-life portraits of key relationships – conspicuously, Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee and Daniel Craig as killer Perry Smith, who bring a distracting star power to their roles – dir. McGrath’s point of difference is in rendering Capote’s magnetism as a personality, and the New York social scene he frequented (think the party scene in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S). The film, while accurate to an end, is less solemn or even tragic as a result, though on the upside is a far more humorous and engaging life and times: socialities and celebrities populate its biography, while Toby Jones presents a campier version of the novelist that is physically, at least, more in keeping with his sexuality.