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Both this film and Capote went into production at around the same time, but due to production delays with re-shooting, Capote opened first, forcing Infamous into the unsavory position of sloppy seconds.

The original title of Infamous was Every Word is True, based on George Plimpton’s oral biography of Capote. The original title may have prepared the audience better for the self-reflexive bent in Infamous, but due to opening only a year behind Capote, most of what happens in the film has been compared to how it was presented in the former film.

Infamous revolves around gossip, which is not something the film tries to hide. Toward the end of the film, we get a sense of what the film portrays as possible actuality. At the same time, it shows clips of Truman Capote shaping his own truth from the events surrounding his relationship with killer Perry Smith. In the end, however, Infamous calls into question the validity of Capote’s finest achievement, In Cold Blood, as well as last year’s Capote.

In a culture suddenly seemingly obssessed with Capote as author, what Infamous attempts to recuperate is Capote’s homosexuality, a factor many have criticized as lacking or unimportant to last year’s film. Infamous conveys a supposed relationship between Smith and Capote that is touching but sympathizes too much with Smith as a sensitive human being and overlooks the brutality of what he has done.

Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, portrays Smith as tender and terribly repressed. His characterization points to the possibility that, at least for him, his life would have been different in a culture accepting of alternate sexualities. What Infamous provides is a look at the hand homophobia played in the life of Capote and the creation of his landmark work.

Infamous also includes aspects of Capote’s social life in New York, which was not included in Capote. Sigourney Weaver, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini, and Juliet Stevenson all portray members of Capote’s female social elite that he termed his Swans. Though we only catch snippets of their various intersections with Capote, their presence gives the film a light-hearted appeal and elegance. Sigourney Weaver and Hope Davis in particular are given a few interesting and entertaining sequences, especially a scene where they all do the twist in Babe Paley’s (Weaver) apartment.

Also of interest are Jeff Daniels as the police chief in Kansas that strikes up an interesting and comical friendship with Capote, and Gwyneth Paltrow in a lucrative cameo (reportedly she received upwards of $3 million for her appearance) as a Peggy Lee-ish singer in an excellent scene that opens the film. Also, the much hailed performance of Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee is notable, though much of the praise over her performance may simply be surprise at her subtle presence than actual acting chops.

Infamous seems to be gossipy, some might say funnier and definitely more open with Capote’s sexuality than previous films--and something tells me he may have liked that.