You can't get away from Truman Capote these days. They even had a facsimile on Ugly Betty, and the gossipy, bitchy, namedropping writer gets his second fine portrayal in a year in a film that covers the same period of time, and the same dilemmas - during lengthy assembling of his celebrated In Cold Blood - that gave Philip Seymour Hoffman his Oscar.

Luckily, this is a tale fascinating enough for two movies but though at times the films are almost scene-to-scene similar, the main difference is a distinctly kinder approach to the writer, who gets less blame for his exploitation of the killers this time around in a film that has had its thunder stolen pre-release.

Toby Jones, the tiny son of eccentric English character actor Freddie, has the advantage over the bulky Hoffman in appearance and immerses himself in the part effectively, with Daniel Craig a convincing killer, but elsewhere the film is less sure of its purpose, with Sandra Bullock's portrayal reminding you how great Catherine Keener's Harper Lee was in the earlier film in the role of best friend and moral compass.

The part here was originally intended for Samantha Morton, which would have made this a virtual British cover version of Capote. But the duplication is a shame: without the Hoffman film this would have been an impressive, original piece of work.