I would watch Phillip Seymour Hoffman make toast if anyone bothered to film it.

Until then, someone did bother to film him inhabiting the skin of Truman Capote as he seduced, used and fell in love with Perry Smith, one of the two men who murdered a family of four in rural Kansas and became the main character of “In Cold Blood.”

It would’ve been so easy to impersonate Capote. The man died when I was 5 years old, and I still know that high voice and foppish manner. But Hoffman became him, and you stopped noticing the voice – except when the rural residents of Kansas noticed it – very quickly.

(Best one-liner: Capote walks into the offices of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations and in response to one man’s stare points to his own scarf and says, “Bergdorf Goodman.” The starer leaves the room, tips his hat and says, “Sears Roebuck.”)

The film makers did a remarkable job with the violence of the subject matter. They used it sparingly, but when they did... It was horrifying in a way filmed violence almost never is anymore. Someone should make sure Quentin Tarantino sees it – and takes notes.

I think the release has been quite small. I could only find four theaters in the L.A. area that were playing it, so I can only imagine if you actually lived in Kansas (hi, Herb) and wanted to see it, the drive that would be required. But I think it would be well worth it. Two enthusiastic thumbs way, way up.