Movie Review from Under the Dome

While the rest of the east coast is getting snow, we once again are seeing a few flurries...and rain. This area of Virginia exists under a dome and while I don't necessarily like it, I've finally come to the realization that this is just the way it is. So I'll try not to be jealous of the rest of y'all and instead focus on the fact that I won't be making up the missing school days that come with snow days.

We declared last night date night and went to this fabulous restaurant, Isle of Capri and then to see Capote. This was definitely an interesting movie. It's not being very widely publicized, in fact only one theater in our area was showing it. I ran across an article for the movie last weekend, but we never got around to seeing it.

The film has an independent production feel to it, and indeed, it is. The producer is Bennett Miller. However, production was funded by United Artists and A-Line Studios, both well-established companies, so why we haven't seen more promotion, I don't know. The most interesting aspect is that, by the end of the film, there isn't really any character you truly like. Truman Capote is first portrayed as a self-confident, over-indulgent man. The term "womanizer" could also be applied to his nature, though he's homosexual. As the film evolves, Capote uses every character he comes across to further his own goals. While Perry Smith, the killer he is researching for his new "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood is without a doubt a criminal, Capote, too, commits a humanitarian crime. His relationship with the accused appears to be a true friendship. He provides lawyers to appeal their case. In reality it is just an ends to his own means. Capote's involvement in their case continues as he ferrets out more material for his book. Once he has all the information he needs, Capote alienates the men and removes his financial backing of their legal aid. He complains that their numerous appeals are dragging out the ending of his book, that he wishes the execution would just take place. When the execution finally does occur, Capote is present, at the request of Perry himself. Afterwards, Capote phones his closest friend, author Harper Lee, and tells her it was the worst experience of his life and that "there was nothing I could do to save them." Lee sums up the theme of the movie when she responds, "Maybe there wasn't. But the truth is, you didn't want to."

Capote's book is a classic. However, he never wrote another novel and died of complications from alcoholism in 1984. I believe that, one way or another, we all pay for our crimes. Capote committed a crime with his manipulation and exploitation of these two killers. I believe he paid for that crime for the remainder of his life.