Sienna Miller exiled in Pittsburgh had nothing on Truman Capote, captive in Kansas.

	Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee and Toby Jones as Truman Capote in "Infamous" Click photo for larger image. 'Infamous' Starring: Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock. Director: Douglas McGrath. Rating: R for language, violence and some sexuality. Interview: British actor had big shoes to fill

Starved for respect, attention and access, not to mention civilized provisions, Capote (Toby Jones) is thrilled to find a care package from Manhattan. "Babe sent Beluga!" he gleefully tells childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee (Sandra Bullock) in the movie "Infamous."

Babe is Babe Paley (Sigourney Weaver), wife of the CBS chairman, and Beluga is caviar, not to be found in Holcomb, where a search for cheese turns up only Velveeta. Capote has left his "swans" -- New York ladies who dine, drink, gossip, socialize and spend money -- and traveled to Kansas to investigate the 1959 murder of four members of a farm family.

His first exchange with the lawman in charge, Alvin Dewey (Jeff Daniels), results in, "Beg your pardon, ma'am." It's not the last time that Capote's voice, combined with his size and fur-trimmed coats and flamboyant scarves, will cause strangers to mistake him for a woman.

"Infamous" tracks Capote's journey from high society to the horrors of the Kansas farmhouse where a father, mother and two children were bound, gagged and killed by shotgun blasts at close range. It follows Capote as he writes "In Cold Blood" and waits for the execution of the convicted killers.

Don't blame yourself if you're having a case of dramatic deja vu.

Much of this same territory was covered a year ago in "Capote," the movie that brought Philip Seymour Hoffman the Best Actor Oscar and earned nominations for picture, director, supporting actress Catherine Keener and adapted screenplay.

Now comes "Infamous," also just under two hours and rated R but with a different cast, crew, source material and stand-in for Kansas (Canada in "Capote," Texas here).

This one is based on a George Plimpton biography, and the movie, written and directed by Douglas McGrath, borrows the style of the book and sprinkles the story with interviews with actors playing Capote friends and foes, staged against a New York skyline.

It's impossible not to spend part of "Infamous" making mental notes on how it compares to its 2005 predecessor. It's as if you're scoring a series of two-person races: Hoffman vs. Jones, Keener vs. Bullock, Chris Cooper vs. Daniels and Clifton Collins Jr. vs. Daniel Craig as killer Perry Smith.

Hoffman was better at conveying Capote's torment, but Jones is a remarkable ringer for Capote. The illusion that you're watching Capote, a diminutive imp with a distinctive voice and intellect, is immediate and astonishing.

This Capote is far more of a gossip and far more flamboyant when he first arrives in Holcomb, and we watch him ingratiate himself into the community through persistence, serendipity and stories about his famous Hollywood friends.

Capote charms them, just as he did his gal pals back in New York. Soon he is on his way to inventing a new form of writing, the nonfiction novel, about the Clutters and their killers, Perry Smith (played by the man who will be James Bond next month) and Dick Hickock (Lee Pace).

Capote feels a kinship and perhaps love for Smith, whose background is nicely fleshed out here with flashbacks. But Capote's book, "In Cold Blood," needs an ending, and it may only come at the gallows.

"Infamous" surrounds Jones, largely unknown to American moviegoers, with recognizable faces in New York: Weaver, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini, Peter Bogdanovich, Juliet Stevenson and, as a nightclub singer, Gwyneth Paltrow. It re-creates some lush, vivid settings, including the El Morocco nightclub and Diana Vreeland's apartment, which explodes with rich red fabric.

In the end, I couldn't forget "Capote," which I saw in the theater and, later, on DVD. As good as this is -- and it's very good -- the other picture made it to the finish line first and broke the tape in spectacular fashion.