Capote (United Artists, 2005)

In 1959, four family members residing in a sleepy Kansas town are brutally murdered. Paging through the morning newspaper, Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is immediately taken by the account and decides to conduct his own investigation for an upcoming article. Traveling west by train, he is accompanied by the dishy Harper Lee (Catherine Kenner), who assists with the research and acts as a babysitter of sorts. Capote realizes that the numerous events need more than a few pages' length to recount them properly, so he attempts to author a work referred to (by him) as a "non-fiction novel." Access to one of the accused, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), is blocked at first, but Capote's charm and a fistful of greenbacks grant him entrance behind the bars. The writer is drawn to Smith and forms a tight relationship with the prisoner, but Capote isn't above telling outright lies in the name of art. For example, he assures Smith that In Cold Blood is a title made up by the organizers of an advance reading in NYC. In one self-serving moment, Capote mentions hiring a new lawyer for Smith after several appeals are exhausted. To which a listener responds (paraphrasing), "Did you hire the attorney for Smith or for you?" The prolonging gives him more grist (not to mention time) for his story, which is three-quarters finished at this point. After an extended absence where Capote doesn't visit or write, he returns to Kansas for one important reason: Smith's honest recollection of the life-changing November day.