Bob Huculak Movies

The creation of one of the most memorable books of the 1960s -- and the impact the writing and research would have on its author -- is explored in this drama based on a true story. In 1959, Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote also co-stars Bruce Greenwood as Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy, and Amy Ryan as Mary Dewey, Alvin's wife who became a confidante of Capote's. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An emotionally distant youngster comes to terms with his personal demons, aided by a pair of ghastly supernatural beings in first-time director Jeff Erbach's 2002 film, The Nature of Nicholas. Young Nicholas (Jeff Sutton) has felt a significant void in his life since the death of his father in a plane crash. To fill this hole, Nicholas has developed an obsessive infatuation with his friend Bobby (David Turnbull), a young athletic type who has recently begun to appreciate the charms of the opposite sex. To further complicate matters, a spirit-like image resembling his father has begun appearing to Nicholas and seems to be trying to help Nicholas pay more attention to girls than to Bobby. At the height of his confusion, Nicholas rashly kisses Bobby, which causes Bobby to split into two -- with one half of Bobby remaining as his normal self and finding repulsion in Nicholas' act and the other half being a monstrous mirror image of Bobby. Left with only the monstrous version of Bobby -- which is actually the version he prefers -- Nicholas takes the ghoul into his care and hides the creature for himself. However, Nicholas finds the secret to be more than he can bear and is eventually forced to come to terms with his emotions. The Nature of Nicholas was selected as part of the Panorama Canada program at the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

A victimless crime turns out to have deadly consequences in this drama. Joey (Steve Braun) is a young guy who finds he needs to make some big money fast when his grandmother falls ill and needs surgery. Joey falls in with a group of ticket scalpers, including wiseguy Sammy (Seun Olagunju), compulsive gambler Lou (Jeff Skinner), and Sheila (Rachel Toles), who uses her ill-gotten gains to help pay for medical school. While Joey and his new friends are breaking the law, their attitudes and techniques are fairly benign; on the other end of the scale is Freddy (Robert Huculak), a gangster with a mean streak who has built a criminal empire around scalping -- and doesn't like to share the business with anyone. While Joey and his pals try to steer clear of Freddy's crew, one of them ends up on his bad side and winds up murdered, and Joey is forced to seek revenge. Scalpers marked the feature debut for Canadian writer/director Adam Rodin. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi