Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act

Last night we decided to catch up on Fargo (10/10) and then we discussed what to watch after that. I suggested we rewatch Philip Seymour Hoffman as (in) "Capote". Gel leapt at the idea and we sat down for the second viewing of a compelling film.

As I type this, it has just been announced that Jimmy Hill has died. I remember parking my car in the cap park at Tesco (the one where I saw David Beckham) on Sunday 31st August 1997, and seeing a woman in the car next to us weeping. This of course was in response to the death of Lady Diana Spencer.

I've never really been moved in that same way, as a consequence of the death of someone I didn't know. Actually that isn't quite true. That photograph of the body of the infant refugee being carried off a beach earlier this year was profoundly moving.

What shocked, and has subsequently given me a sense of loss, was the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Only, however, from a slightly selfish perspective. He was one of those actors, who I thought never looked like he was acting. You always felt he was being a character, and inhabited a character. I feel sorry for me, not being able to see him anymore.

The film "Capote" follows the author to Kansas to report on the murder of four members of a family in a remote farmhouse. Truman Capote is shown as interesting, witty, clever, rather narcissistic man (he bribes a porter to publicly praise his work when in the company of his friend and colleague Harper Lee). He seems to be able to empathise with people - or at least to be able to fake empathy - and use that empathy to get what he wants. He finds the story of the murders and the impact on the small community so compelling that rather than writing a magazine article, he sees the possibility of a book. He befriends the lawman in charge of the investigation, and then the killers themselves (Perry Smith in particular).

He starts the book, but realises after a while that until the killers are executed he cannot finish it. There then follows some rather unpleasant scenes where it is clear that having extracted what he needs from the killers by befriending them, finding them a decent lawyer to help with appeals, he abandons them, and seems disappointed every time they receive a stay of execution.

Hoffman takes us on a journey from the start where Capote seems like a charming and likeable character, to the end where, perhaps, his true, rather more nasty, side of his personality is revealed. It's a wonderful performance. Hoffman won an Oscar (and a Golden Globe and a BAFTA) for this role. Watching this again made me realise what a sad loss his death was.

I'm not going to sit in my car and weep, but I do mourn his loss.

The book was called "In Cold Blood" and was published in 1966, and made him (more) famous. Truman Capote died in 1984 having not been able to finish another book.