What were they thinking? A while ago, I posted that Crash was a bad movie. With the exception of Good Night, and Good Luck, we’ve now seen all the other Oscar nominees from last year’s ceremony. All of them were superior to Crash, but Capote–in spite of its subject’s physical stature–was head and shoulders above the crowd.
Don’t get me wrong. I would not want to spend time with Truman Capote. He seems to have been a manipulative, unthinking, even cruel man. But Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal is masterful, and the movie itself is visually stunning. On the surface it is almost monochromatic–but look closer and you see all the layers and textures. This is a tremendous example of how design, lighting, and cinematography can play a powerful role in transmitting a movie’s message.
I have no doubt that Good Night, and Good Luck will be better than Crash, but I’m hard-pressed to imagine that it will be better than this film. Capote may have been a person to avoid, but Capote is a don’t-miss.