I have wanted to catch this since it came out, and now I finally managed to get around to it. Suffering from the fact that this was made at the same time as Capote and that film came out first and of course got all the recognition, this one kind of went under the radar which is a shame. Like Capote, Infamous tells the true story of Truman Capote during the time in his life when he wrote ‘In Cold Blood’. However both films are actually quite different and the portrayal of Truman is different.
The casting for this I found to be rather interesting, Tobey Jones actually makes for quite a wonderful Truman, I really liked him here a lot and this was a great performance. Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, while on paper that might seem rather odd but you know what? I thought this was possibly Sandra’s best and strongest performance, and it is such a shame she did not get any recognition for this. Instead she gets it for The Blind Side, yes a good performance but this one here is so much better and stronger. Fans of hers should watch this and see just how good she actually is. The other supporting cast all do a pretty good job, with Sigourney Weaver (as his friend Babe Paley) to Jeff Daniels (as Alvin Dewey). I felt the only weak spot with the cast was actually Daniel Craig, mainly because I really did not feel he fit quite right as Perry Smith. Not that I want to make comparisons but Clifton Collins Jr was flawless in the role in Capote, that was an example of perfecting casting. But Craig does not look the part, and I just did not really buy him. He seemed to struggle a bit with the role, but his scenes with Tobey Jones (some of which are actually quite moving) were made stronger because he was working with Jones. Jones seemed to really try and bring out the best with Craig, but for me him in the role just did not work.
This film really captured the look of the times, and I really liked how they had the people in Truman’s life speak about what was happening through-out the film. The pacing of the film felt just right and it flowed pretty well, and you get to experience everything you’d expect with this story. Truman had a connection with this place and this crime and of course with Perry, and I think the film did a great job showing that and really making you feel it as well. It is a real shame more people do not know about this film, I really would recommend this. I was impressed with just how much I really liked this and how good it was. Just because there is another film out there about the same thing, it doesn’t mean it is bad. I actually think both films are great in their own right, and of course the story is an interesting one. Things which really struck out at me, I really loved the scene where Truman explains the title of the book ‘In Cold Blood’. Which reminds me, I have that sitting on the shelf to read, I should get to it at some stage.
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