You remember that movie about Truman Capote? It was released about 10 years ago. It covers the time he was researching and writing In Cold Blood. Yeah, the one where Sandra Bullock plays Harper Lee. It also has Daniel Craig, Lee Pace, Jeff Daniels, Sigourney Weaver, and a song performance by Gwyneth Paltrow (pre-Country Strong). That one. Oh! You thought I was talking about the one with Catherine Keener and Chris Cooper! The one where Philip Seymour Hoffman (R.I.P) won the Oscar for the titular role. No no, I’m talking about the other Capote movie, Infamous. The one starring Toby Jones.
Let’s try again. You remember that movie about Alfred Hitchcock, right? It focuses on the making of a single movie–The Birds. It was released in 2012. It has Sienna Miller. Oh! You thought I meant the one with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Scarlett Johansson and Helen Mirren? The one that is centered around Psycho? No, no, no. I’m talking about the one starring Toby Jones.
Hoffman’s Capote was released on September 30th, 2005, on what would have been Truman Capote’s 81st birthday. The film details Capote’s fascination with the quadruple murder of the Clutter family in Kansas in 1959. Infamous premiered at the Venice Film festival 11 months later. After Hoffman won an Academy Award for his portrayal, people were bound to compare Jones’ performance to his. These films ostensibly cover the same ground. In fact, both films portray scenes and dialogue mirroring each other, as if they were copying each other. Both screenplays are based on different biographical works, but the similarities in the films attest to the mythology surrounding the events and people in the 7 year span it took to publish this novel.
I found both to be good films. Capote has a more subdued color palate and certainly a darker, more dour tone. Infamous is more lively, with a soundtrack that could be mistaken for a Woody Allen soundtrack, accompanying vibrant set pieces and characters. Disparity is even more apparent in the film Hitchcock and Jones’ The Girl. Both films focus around the production of an iconic film from Hitchcock’s filmography. While The Girl offers a more questionable, negative portrayal of Hitch, Hitchcock doesn’t quite offer any valuable insight (and Helen Mirren steals the show). The Girl was released a month before Hitchcock, albeit to a smaller audience on HBO. Both movies received mixed-to-warm reviews, and both portrayals of actors were praised. In fact, Toby Jones was nominated for a Golden Globe while Hopkins was not. Yet, Hitchcock is the film most people know and remember.
What are the odds? Two movies covering the same topic in the same year is certainly not a unique trend in Hollywood. Remember the year The Illusionist and The Prestige, two period pieces about magicians, were released? Or Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached? Or White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen? Linear thinking, accidental symmetry, or industry laziness–who knows how this happens? Regardless, Toby Jones’ credits reflect a career that seems like a carbon copy of Oscar winners…without the statues What makes this case unique is that Toby Jones has been involved in two of these cases, and both times his performance has been rivaled by that of a more popular, well-known actor. In the years Mr. Jones plays famous historical figures, his movies and performances are overshadowed by bigger movies. They are more or less forgotten, or at best, merely used to prop up the other film. Jones’ performances are reduced to “ the other” Capote/Hitchcock movie. To be fair, not all critics were blinded. A.O Scott pleads there is no reason to pick one or the other; they both stand out above the pack of biopics.
Is Toby Jones struggling for work? Absolutely not. He is Dobby the Elf in the Harry Potter series. He was in the most recent Hunger Games film. He is in everything from Marvel movies to Muppets movies to creepy horror movies. It is just a raw deal that two of the biggest performances of his career were overshadowed unjustly—even if it was coincidental and bad timing. Is he unappreciated? Certainly not. Melanie Griffith, Tippi Hedren’s daughter, said Jones’ performance was going to send her back into therapy. He is respected by his peers.
I hope you enjoy Toby Jones next time you see him. He only enhances the projects he is a part of. Do not let his diminutive stature fool you. He swings for the fences in every performance. Beyond mere impressions, he embodies characters, bringing nuance to the surface, and does so with an appropriate tone. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have any plans to play Winston Churchill. Unless he wants to be compared to Brian Cox.
The author would like to thank Emily Walters for her notes.
