Cold' wind blowing

"Honey, I'm indestructible."
Or so says Truman Capote, the subject of the new biopic "Infamous," early on in the film.
But anyone who knows anything about the literary celebrity knows that it was the book that made him a household name that also destroyed him.
That book, of course, is "In Cold Blood," what many consider the first true-crime novel. Its literary reputation is well earned. The book tells the story of a quadruple homicide in rural Kansas during the 1950s. But it's the story of how Capote came to write the book – and the close relationship he formed with one of the killers during the process – that is the subject of director Douglas McGrath's "Infamous."
Based on the biography by George Plimpton, "Infamous" tells essentially the same story as last year's "Capote." In fact, since the two films were released so close together it is nearly impossible to watch "Infamous" without comparing it to "Capote."
Considering Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman in "Capote" nabbed him an Oscar, Toby Jones has a lot to live up to here. Thankfully, the two performances bear each actor's distinctive stamp. Both are nuanced and spot-on in what aspect they chose to emphasize of a man who, though small in stature, was truly larger than life.
Then there's Nell Harper Lee, who was played solidly, if a bit too understated, in "Capote" by Catherine Keener. "Infamous" finds Sandra Bullock at the helm. She nails it, providing "Infamous" with a role that manages to give Jones a run for his money.
Where "Infamous" breaks most drastically from "Capote" is in its depiction of Capote's sexuality. While "Capote" doesn't deny that the writer was gay, it doesn't spell it out for you. "Infamous" does.
Capote repeatedly calls Kansas Detective Alvin Dewey (Jeff Daniels) "foxy," for example. At a party at Dewey's house Capote is asked if he likes football. He says he doesn't, "though I must admit it always sends a shiver up my spine when those men get in the huddle and whisper." The straight men in the room shift uncomfortably in their chairs.
Furthermore, Capote keeps getting "mistaken" for a woman by the local townspeople. "Do you think everyone keeps calling me that to be mean or can they honestly not tell?" he asks Lee.
But Capote's sexuality is displayed most clearly in his relationship with Perry Smith (Daniel Craig), one of the killers he interviews extensively during the writing process. Where "Capote" showed the writer as a shrewd manipulator who got too close to his subject, "Infamous" shows the spell being cast the other way around.
"When you're tiny you have to be tough," Capote tells Dewey. "This world isn't kind to little things." But Capote couldn't defend himself against Smith.
"Punishment is hoping there's someone out there for you, and then when you find him you can't have him," Smith tells Capote after learning that he has exhausted his appeals. The two men then kiss full on the lips. Smith also gives Truman a peck on the way to the gallows.
It's Lee that sums up why Capote's life, this clash between the high class hobnobbing and the fateful meeting with an uneducated killer that brought about his personal demise, is fascinating enough to warrant multiple books and movies.
"Whoever knows what our hearts will want?" she asks. "Who can defend themselves from it?"