I confess this is not as good of a film as Capote, but there are some interesting changes. Where the movie Capote is a more subdued look at Truman Capote’s relationship with Perry Smith, one of the Clutter family killers he writes about within In Cold Blood, Infamous is more a film about Capote himself, publicly, privately, and during his investigation for his “true crime fiction”.
Toby Jones does a fantastic Capote impression which starts with just the sassy, silly nature that made him popular in wealthy circles, then starts to melt into those moments of depression and self-realization. His Swans, a group of wealthy women he adored until he eventually betrayed their secrets and they dumped him, are included and played by Hope Davis, Sigourney Weaver, Juliet Stevenson, and Isabella Rossellini. The movie delves a little into his relationship with these wealthy socialites. You see a large difference between how the Swans react to Capote versus how Nelle “Harper” Lee (Sandra Bullock) and Jack Dunphy (John Benjamin Hickey) behave with him. While the Swans encourage his bad behavior, Nelle and Jack try to make him more likable to the masses or just a better person overall. I especially liked a scene in a diner where Nelle reminds Truman repeatedly to say thank you to a waitress. That having been said, they do not try to change who he is either. The movie does mention both the fame of To Kill a Mockingbird, Nelle attempting to write a second book, and how Jack is struggling with his own novel.
Still, the main plot revolves around Capote writing In Cold Blood. He and Nelle go to the small town in Kansas (where everyone keeps calling him “ma’am”) and instantly get the cold shoulder from Agent Alvin Dewey (Jeff Daniels). However Mrs. Dewey doesn’t like that he and Nelle are alone in town at Christmas, so she invites them to dinner. Nelle brings a fruit cake and Truman responds, “And she doesn’t mean me.” He wins Dewey over by telling stories of his time working in Hollywood on Beat the Devil (it’s an odd film, but I still recommend it). This gives him an in to several other families in town who finally speak to him about the Clutters and give him a start to his book.
The movie points out how Truman doesn’t take notes, instead using a memory technique. Nelle proves to be both a better researcher and a voice of reason to Truman as he starts to work out his idea for a “true crime novel”, pointing out that these were real people and he should stick to the facts. He points out that To Kill a Mockingbird was an embellishment on the truth, which is funny since so many of his short stories do the same thing.
The second act is his meeting the killers, Dick Hickey (Lee Pace! Oh, how I love him) and Perry Smith (is that Daniel Craig with black hair? He didn’t have to be the blonde Bond). Nelle suggests that Truman use the same tactics he uses to get his Swans to dish the dirt. Truman and Perry begin to build a relationship and he sends him a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Perry states that the stories lack kindness, which I found super interesting, a statement that rattles Truman. Perry is portrayed as more violent towards Truman than in the film Capote where there is more empathy between the two men right away. There is also a scene where the two men make out which would have never happened in a jail where others could have seen them. The film also changes the actions of the murders, claiming that Dick shot the wife and daughter. As far as we know, in reality Perry killed them all.
The third act of the movie is much more about the preparations for publishing the book and Truman’s attempt to make it sound “kinder”. He struggles with the idea that the men being hanged gives his book the correct and satisfying ending, however, it means Perry still swings. Capote lies that Perry apologized before death. After all, that is a kinder ending for his book. The whole movie ends with Nelle stating how writing something meaningful can take a little piece of a writer’s life away, yet all people want to know afterwards is “what’s next?”. The camera pans in on Truman attempting to write Answered Prayers, a novel he would never finish about his Swans.
