Curious as to how the residents would react to a brutal massacre in their midst, the author and his friend, Nelle Harper Lee, who has just published her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, travel from New York to the rural Midwestern town, ostensibly so Capote can interview people for a magazine article.

As a result, when ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith are apprehended in Las Vegas and extradited to Holcomb, permission is given to Capote to interview them in their cells.

Capote's society and literary friends in New York, like Slim Keith and Babe Paley, press him for juicy gossip about the case and inquire when they can expect to read the book.

He empathizes with the convicted killer's unhappy childhood, and Smith's remorseful manner, genuine sincerity, artistic skills, and obvious intelligence impress him.

As soon as Smith learns that Truman plans to title his book In Cold Blood, which suggests the author thinks of him only as a merciless killer, he violently subdues Capote and nearly rapes him.

This greatly angers Capote, who wants to hear details not only as a writer in search of the truth but as someone who finds it difficult to believe a loved one could be guilty of such a crime.

The website's consensus reads, "Though comparisons with last year's Capote may be inevitable, Infamous takes a different angle in its depiction of the author, and stands up well enough on its own.

This is no lisping impersonation learned from watching old Johnny Carson shows: Mr. Jones moves into Truman's skin, heart and brains.

"[8] In Variety, David Rooney felt the film "doesn't measure up to its predecessor and seems unlikely to echo the attention it received ...

In the central role, British thesp Toby Jones is a good physical match for Capote, getting his flamboyant mannerisms and creepy, nasal voice down.

But unlike Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning turn, there's no texture, no under-the-skin sense of the conflict between Capote's ambition for his book and his compassion for, and attraction to, Perry ... Sandra Bullock's understated performance as Capote's friend Lee is a high point here – wrapped in a cardigan and puffing on cigarettes, she creates a bracingly sturdy character of this plain-speaking, unfussy woman amid a cardboard gallery of flashy sophisticates.

Either through studying Lee or channeling someone else, Bullock adopts mannerisms and facial expressions that are not her own for this role and then works them into a well-crafted portrait of a highly internal, observant and deep-revolving spirit.

"[10] Jeff Klemzak penned two articles for the Los Angeles Times on the subject of the two biopics, arguing that Infamous, while covering the same theme as the award-winning Capote, "(a)nd as good as that film was, this one is better".

[11] In The Village Voice, Robert Wilonsky stated the film "never comes close to approaching the quiet, devastating brilliance of Capote ...

Daniel Craig was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor but lost to Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine.