He wrote only a few books, but Truman Capote became one of the most influential and controversial authors of the 20th century. In 1958, he published “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which was the basis for the 1961 movie. A year later, he began work on a nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood,” which details the quadruple homicide of a family in rural Kansas. The book helped define the nonfiction genre, and many consider it to be Capote’s crowning achievement.

After reading about the crimes in the paper, Capote, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, decides spontaneously to travel from New York to Kansas to conduct research for an article for The New Yorker. He records pages of notes from conversations with townspeople about how they are coping with the losses, but he also interviews the two men charged with and later convicted of the crimes.

Based on Gerald Clarke’s novel of the same name, “Capote” is about how Capote becomes so involved in his research and story over six years that it begins to shape him almost as much as he shapes the story. Not only does he befriend both killers, he falls in love with one of them – Perry Smith, played by Clifton Collins Jr.

On his extended trip to Kansas, Capote is accompanied by none other than Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Capote’s good childhood friend. Lee understands Capote is conflicted by his interest in the murderers but he has to sacrifice their friendship in order to have an ending for his book.

Lee provides Capote’s stable half in the film. She helps him earn the town’s trust, especially that of the case’s agent, Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper). Lee also serves as a grounded opposite to Capote’s flamboyancy, since he knows he is someone and isn’t afraid to exploit his fame.

Hoffman plays up the quirkiness of the character, yet he also reveals the tragic side of Capote. He is torn between his thirst for fame and his morals concerning his emotions toward the murderers, particularly Smith. It is not so much that he is just playing Capote; it is as if Capote himself is playing through Hoffman.

Perhaps the only problem with “Capote” is that it is mostly one-sided. The audience sees how the book tears up Capote, but it doesn’t show how it affects Smith, who becomes the main character of Capote’s tale.

He may be a cold-blooded killer who is sentenced to death, but he shares a bond with the author, and the movie leaves out whether he fully comprehends how Capote is using him for the purposes of his story.

But that is a minor setback to the film.

“Capote” is a brilliant film about an intriguing figure at the most devastating point in his life. Capote never finished another book after “In Cold Blood,” and the movie does a good job of showing how his art slowly threw his life into ruin.