15, 119mins

How many Truman Capotes does it take to nail the myth? If you thought this question became academic when Philip Seymour Hoffman picked up his Oscar last year, think again. Toby Jones defies the odds with an extraordinary impersonation of the author in Douglas McGrath’s Infamous.

The plots are heart-sinkingly identical. Both Capotes decide to turn a grisly news cutting about the murder of a Kansas family into a 20th-century masterpiece. Both become infatuated with one of the killers. The six-year marathon to write In Cold Blood transforms them into monsters. Neither of them writes a book worth reading again.

The magic of Infamous is the realisation that this Capote is warped by a different set of demons. Jones is crippled by a conscience missing in Hoffman’s calculated performance. His jail cell visits and impulsive kisses with Daniel Craig’s frightened Perry are electric. The unexpected result is that this Capote yields riches beyond anything Hoffman could offer.

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