Capote

Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been one of my favorite actors for quite some time now. This is due in part to his ability to take on roles that make him look awful and put out awesome performances. This includes his work in Boogie Nights, Happiness and the otherwise awful Along Came Polly (probably his funniest role ever). He's also done a helluva job portraying real people and completely disappearing into that character. This was the case when he played rock journalist Lester Bangs in Almost Famous and it was again on display in Capote, where he plays the title character Truman Capote.

I'm admitedly not a huge reader of fiction, so my knowledge of Capote is limited and I'm nearly as familiar with his socialite status as I am with his writing. Capote touches on both of these, but mostly focuses in on the events that led to his "non-fiction novel", In Cold Blood. Hoffman completely becomes Capote both in his look, his voice and his mannerisms. Though I've seen few of his competitors for best actor, I'd say his performance was definitely Oscar worthy.

The movie itself is very slow paced and I found myself drifting when things weren't 100% focussed on Capote. If you haven't seen it and like Hoffman, it's worth a look. Not sure it's a film for everyone though.