Capote

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the film Capote, which arrived on DVD in my mailbox this afternoon. Thank you, Blockbuster.

I mean, it took a lot for me to get past the absurdities of the title character's persona. But, once I did, I found the storyline pretty compelling.

For those of you who aren't "in" to the world of the 1960's literatti, you probably won't even know if I spelled "literatti" correctly . . . much less who the heck Truman Capote was.

Well, don't feel too bad about that. I was in the same boat with you until I watched this movie.

Apparently, it's based on the true story of a flambouyant fiction writer who decides to switch gears and do a non-fiction book about a story he literally tore out of the newspaper . . . get it, "literally" tore out of the newspaper?!? I'm too funny for my own good.

Anyway, the story is about a quadruple homicide in rural Kansas, and he goes out there to interview the murderers. Yes, there are two of them, but only one that's really interesting. And, that's the one he focused on.

You see, it turns out that Capote and this murderer had very similar childhoods. Or, as he put it, as if they were raised in the same house, but one went out the front door and the other out the back door.

I'll leave it to you to decide who went which way . . . again, I'm too funny for my own good.

Well, the case drags on for years and years thru what seems like endless appeals. All of this is torture for Capote, who just wants to get an ending to the story so he can finish his book. Or, so he would have you believe.

I believe, he was really more anxious to see an end to his darker side, as personified by the murderer.

In the last scene, Capote is describing the murderer's execution to his friend Harper Lee. (She's the chick who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird . . .turns out they were next door neighbors in Alabama.) He despairingly tells her, "There was nothing I could do." Or, something to that effect. And, she knowingly replied, "As if you would." Or, something like that.

Well, watch it for yourself, and see if you think I'm totally off base.