Infamous (2006)

"The film's most pleasing surprise is the beautifully nuanced portrait of Capote's confidante, "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee, by Sandra Bullock. You heard me. Bullock gives the film what it otherwise lacks: the ring of truth..."

"Understanding what McGrath is trying to pull off is not the same thing as McGrath pulling it off; as ambitious as it is, Infamous falters in execution too often to create a lasting impression..."

"Add in a solid, unshowy turn by Bullock, a very underrated actress, as Harper Lee (plainly a co-creator of the landmark book), and you have a compellingly watchable portrait of the artist as an emotional cripple. Not to be missed..."

"The problem is that the first half of Infamous is nowhere near as comic as McGrath intends. Instead the picture gives off a tone of arch stylization that plays as artificial, overwrought and off-putting..."

"While less beguiling than 'Capote', 'Infamous' remains a soulful and searching portrayal of the writer, carried with immense charm and vivacity by its leading man..."

"Rather than just focusing on the art-vs-personal-relationships struggle that dominated Hoffman's Capote, Jones fleshes out more of Truman's quirks, whether it be his arm-wrestling prowess or his prickliness when dealing with the locals. As Truman said of himself, he might have been "as dazzling and unique as a Faberge Egg" but as at the centre of any bright flame, "there's a little bit of blue"..."

"The story grows subtly darker when Daniel Craig turns up as one of the killers, Perry Smith. It's a crackling livewire of a performance, deftly capturing what Capote called "the tender and the terrible" that dwelled inside him... Miller probed this dilemma more intensely in 'Capote', but McGrath delivers a bitter love story that tugs as much at the heartstrings as it chills to the bone..."