Infamous: Critic Reviews

A goggly interest in gossip becomes the glittering gimmick of Infamous, as well as its undoing as a work that can measure up to the rigorous, sophisticated understatement of Bennett Miller's Capote.

There is no reason to choose between Bennett Miller's Capote, which came out almost exactly a year ago, and Douglas McGrath's Infamous, which opens today... Both stand out above the biopic pack.

British actor Toby Jones plays Capote and certainly looks the part -- more so than Hoffman. It's a very good performance and Jones deserves his time in the spotlight.

It's a stellar cast, but you can't help but lament the bad timing.

A riveting, well-made picture for the few of you who still remember those quaint, antiquarian objects called 'books' and recall the vanished age when they were really important.

Rarely do battling productions -- these two were shot mere months apart -- result in equally valid films, but that's the case here.

It can't withstand the comparisons [to Capote]. It's good, especially during its first half, just not good enough.

British actor Toby Jones is so physically right in the role, you'll think Capote is playing himself.

The film benefits from three splendid performances: Toby Jones as Capote, an aggressively gay elf exuding a tosspot charm; Sandra Bullock as Nelle Harper Lee, a novelist who uses spoken words with quiet precision, and Daniel Craig as Perry.

What begins as a mischievous frolic gradually becomes a sad tale about a sad man.

Infamous is one of the funniest sad movies in recent memory.

Neither movie [about Capote] gives you the whole picture, but it's fun to see them both and rearrange the pieces in your head.

Jones gets everything -- the gestures, the generosity, the mean streak, the bending of the ear to recitals of woe, whether across a lunch table or a prison cell.

By the end ... Infamous more or less finds itself, after trying a little bit of everything.

Ultimately, as a cautionary tale about fictionalized journalism, it's a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Bullock's warm, wise and penetrating presence as the To Kill a Mockingbird author -- Capote childhood friend, assistant and conscience -- is the soul of McGrath's sumptuously art-directed (by Judy Becker) and scored (by Rachel Portman) film.

Far from vanishing in its predecessor's wake, Infamous demonstrates how a potent story can inspire distinctly different interpretations.

Infamous is a well-made movie about a fascinating character, and if it weren't essentially a repeat of last year's Capote it would likely be one of the hot flicks in filmdom right now.

Toby Jones, the British actor with the impossible task of following an Oscar winner, gives a stellar, idiosyncratic performance as Capote.

Infamous is infinitely fascinating, cinematically breathtaking and largely impeccable.

Regardless of the liberties taken, there was an integrity and character-complexity to the 2005 release that's missing from this glossier biopic.

Jones wears the title role so well that you simply forget he's acting, which wasn't true of Philip Seymour Hoffman last year when he gave a performance that deserved its Oscar. If Jones fails to pick up an Oscar nomination, he should pitch a hissy.

Infamous covers just enough new ground to be interesting, but it will always suffer by comparison.

No matter how noble the competitor, coming in second in a contest always feels like a lesser effort.

Unlike its coolly detached brother, Infamous is right in your face, as amusing in flashes, and annoying for stretches, as any shallow little tyke.