Capote (2005) 
I have 94% recall from all my conversations. I test myself.
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I was a bit taken aback by Hoffman winning the Oscar for best actor last year. But that was before I saw the film. After seeing the film, I am on the Hoffman bandwagon. The film had a lot going for it, solid perfomances, good tone and intriguing subject matter. But it would have been merely good with a less than stellar performance from its lead.
Capote was definitely an idiosyncratic character to say the least. I feel like it says something when you leave the film thirsting for more information on it. Hoffman’s performance is like a delicious small meal; a fantastic blend of flavors that leaves you hungry for more. I left the film wanting to find out more about the guy, and could only find one small clip on YouTube.
Whenever he took his glasses off during the film, I got kind of confused because he looked like his character in Mission Impossible III. For the same guy to do both of those roles. . . you can color me “impressed.”
Chat transcript from July 17:
Nathan: i don’t want people to recognize me and start attacking me for my views on mission impossible three. that is my worst nightmare.
me: philip seymour hoffman fans will hate you for referring to him as ‘the bad guy’ and that’s it
Nathan: would it have been better to refer to him as Capote?
Comment by Unfrozen Cavedan — August 13, 2006 @ 12:56 am
As far as “Capote” is concerned, the film is weak in comparison to Hoffman’s finely nuanced performance. Same holds true for “Transamerica” as well.
Comment by Wael "D3" — August 13, 2006 @ 6:25 am
Cavedan, your comments in that chat were one of the things that made me curious about Capote. It is hard to imagine the film being good without Hoffman. Wael, you think that Transamerica also falls apart without the lead?
Comment by nate — August 14, 2006 @ 4:35 pm
Yep - no Huffman, no Transamerica.
Comment by Wael "D3" — August 16, 2006 @ 5:15 am