Truman Capote gets a proper roasting in this television series adaptation of Laurence Leamer’s book “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.”
Mired in the cruelty of its real-life characters, the series starts off bumpy. If you can make it past the first three episodes, you’ll likely make it to the end, but it won’t be a pleasant experience.
Nonetheless, Tom Hollander gives a tour de force portrayal of Truman Capote, whose once vaunted reputation the author dismantled with a vengeance as a result of his alcoholism, drug use, and insatiable narcissism.
Ever the social butterfly/interloper, Truman Capote famously boxed outside of his weight class when he bit the hands that fed him by publishing an excerpt from his unfinished novel, “Answered Prayers” in Esquire Magazine.
The chapter, entitled “La Côte Basque, 1965,” included rumors and lies about the society women whose trust Capote had forced upon them, if not earned. Love is a cold glass of water in these Carnegie Hill social circles.
Naomi Watts give a reliably solid performance as Babe Paley, Capote’s favorite “swan.”
“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” shares a simile with the recent Bratpack movie “Brats,” inasmuch as the Swans’ reaction to a nasty take-down magazine article only exacerbated their problems.
The story reflects epochal social changes that hang the inflexible out to dry. Knowing the rules of the game will only get you so far, regardless of your social standing.
Truman Capote was in inveterate back-stabber, with the audacity to return to the scene of his crime. Needless to say, it didn’t prove to be a sustainable practice. Truman Capote died at the age of 59.
Footnote: the filmmakers’ decision to not include Capote’s pet cats as an integral part of his domestic life, does a disservice to Capote and to the audience
Not Rated. Eight Episodes.
