Prime/Capote
Two Reviews for the Price of One
By Rebecca Redshaw
Does superior talent raise the level of the script? This is such an easy question to answer. Sitting in near sold out theaters recently, I was amazed at the audience reaction to two fairly average movies. (Which leads to another, much more difficult question to answer. “Is it better to experience a movie with a throng of strangers or in the privacy and comfort of one’s living room?” Answered in another column, another day.)
Prime, starring Meryl Streep and Capote, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, are interesting films that only have one thing in common – brilliant performances.
As a psychotherapist who desperately wants her handsome young son [Bryan Greenberg] to marry a nice, Jewish girl, Streep nudges and nags him about his choices in women. All the while, counseling a recent divorcée in her mid-thirties [portrayed wonderfully by Uma Thurman] to explore life to the fullest. That’s swell, until Streep realizes that her patient’s “exploration” includes bedding her twenty-three year old son. Oy vey! What’s a Jewish mother to do?
Well, if it’s the 50’s, 70’s, or 90’s, I think she gets upset. But we’re in the next century, and although I know people are still iffy about “mixed” marriages, for the most part, parents are relieved if their children marry someone of the opposite sex. Thurman and Greenberg are fun to watch and are believable in their sexual attraction, but the movie works because of Streep. Somehow (I think it’s called superior talent), she manages to milk more out of a scene by raising an eyebrow than most actor’s do by falling off a cliff.
Speaking of raising an eyebrow – in Capote, Phillip Seymour Hoffman perfected the mannerisms of the title character – the aforementioned raised eyebrow, the crooked pinky, and above all, the twangy speech pattern. If you’re old enough to remember Truman Capote’s frequent appearances on the talk show circuits, you’ll have no problem envisioning the quirky munchkin who took giant leaps with his authorship of In Cold Blood.
Obsessed for years with his criminal subject matter and delving into the lives of murderers, Capote becomes consumed with finishing his work and agonized over the slow pace of the process. Supposedly indifferent to the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, penned by his friend Harper Lee during the same time frame, he labors on, drinking his way to the bitter end of his story.
Capote is slow, perhaps intentionally so, and except for brief party scenes where Truman’s wit transcends his private hell, it drags on.
Are Prime and Capote worth seeing? You bet. Certainly Hoffman will get a much deserved Oscar nomination for his performance. He’s an accomplished actor. Alas, Streep will probably not receive a similar nod in the comedy, but not for lack of talent.
If awards were given for “Carrying a Picture”, they would both be running toward the stage with a clever acceptance speech in hand.