Capote (***)

I saw this right after Good Night, and Good Luck, and I must say it was a bit of a letdown. Don't get me wrong. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great. He takes what could have been an annoying, one-note characterization and turns it into something much more complex and interesting. Wish I could say the same for the film. It's slow as molasses at times, and is directed in a drab, lifeless manner. The story also didn't really work for me. Capote's research of his famous book, In Cold Blood, and the murders that inspired it reminded me more of the millions of police and forensic procedurals on television, only this time with someone even more quirkier than Vincent D'Onofrio in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I hope Hoffman is recognized come Oscar time for his stellar work here and in the past, but the movie isn't anything special. Still, it's better than most things that have come out this year. It's clearly intelligent and insightful. It just doesn't move you.