Overview
A celebrated writer's quest for truth leads him into the dark heart of crime.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- tense
- brooding
- serious film night
- literary cinema evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a powerful, carefully constructed portrait of Truman Capote, led by Philip Seymour Hoffman's riveting performance and its incisive examination of artistic self-interest.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Truman Capote transforms the Clutter murders and his access to Perry Smith into the nonfiction novel he believes will redefine literature.
Capote cultivates victims' friends, investigators, and condemned prisoners while pursuing material for In Cold Blood.
Philip Seymour Hoffman's Capote uses celebrity, wit, and theatrical mannerisms to control encounters in New York and Kansas.
The narrative repeatedly moves between Capote's New York social circle and the stark Kansas communities shaped by the murders.
Films like Capote, and why
The Social Network
shared biographical drama, literary ambition, moral compromise, and acclaimed central performance
Zodiac
shared true-crime investigation, psychological intensity, and fixation on the criminal mind
The Hours
shared literary subject, period setting, corrosive ambition, and ethically fraught artistic creation
Before Night Falls
shared dramatization of a writer's life, identity performance, and intimate psychological portrait
Movie Details
- Director
- Bennett Miller
- Release Date
- 2005-09-30
- Runtime
- 114 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (1704)
Cast
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Catherine Keener
- Clifton Collins Jr.
- Bruce Greenwood
- Bob Balaban
- Mark Pellegrino
- Marshall Bell
- Amy Ryan
- Bess Meyer
- Chris Cooper
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Capote about?
- A celebrated writer turns a Kansas family murder into the defining literary project of his life, only to find his empathy and ambition morally entangled.
- What is Capote like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Capote as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Capote violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Capote as mild.
- What did critics think of Capote?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a powerful, carefully constructed portrait of Truman Capote, led by Philip Seymour Hoffman's riveting performance and its incisive examination of artistic self-interest.
- Which films are like Capote?
- Films with a similar feel include The Social Network, Zodiac, The Hours, and Before Night Falls.
- How long is Capote?
- Capote runs 114 minutes.
- Where can I watch Capote?
- In United States, Capote is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
