‘Capone’ Review

There are many movies that have been made about American criminals of the past, especially gangsters. The Untouchables, Bonnie and Clyde, and Goodfellas are some examples of classic gangster films. In these films, they often end with the gangsters getting their just desserts, a punishment for living their lavish, yet highly illegal and violent lifestyles. This film, Capone, is basically an extended look at the downfall of the gangster lifestyle, but has a strange way of telling it.

Plot

Capone is about the last year of Capone’s (Tom Hardy) life. He is basically suffering from some form of dementia that has appeared due to years of being sick with syphilis. 

Throughout the film, Capone is haunted by his past wrongdoings and becomes extremely paranoid about people trying to steal from him. He has forgotten where he stashed millions of dollars and people try to take advantage of him in his current mental state.

Josh Trank’s weird directing choices

This film is directed by Josh Trank, the director of the infamous Fantastic Four reboot. This is his supposed bounce-back film and it’s off to a very rocky start. The actual concept of Capone is interesting. Watching an infamous historical figure in their dying days is a concept that has never really been done before. Trank makes a lot of choices though that don’t work. 

It often shows too much of his hallucinations to the point where a lot of them have no relation to what is currently happening. A lot of the film is dedicated to Capone strolling his large manor going crazy and it feels rather boring. There are also some clear ripoffs from The Shining as hallucinations begin to appear around him. It’s not poorly shot, but it lingers on things for too long.

Trank also clearly has some type of personal agenda against Capone because he often uses his condition as comedy. Capone is shown shitting his pants, bumbling like a maniac, and just acting ridiculous. I don’t know exactly if it was supposed to be funny, but if it was, it feels inappropriate to make fun of this type of mental condition, even if it is someone as wicked as Capone.

What is Tom Hardy doing?

Speaking of Capone, Hardy takes on this role in one of the most bizarre performances I’ve ever seen. Hardy is a fantastic actor, but he is insane in this movie and not in a good way. He is doing this weird, squeaky, raspy, Italian accent that often sounds like if Danny Devito’s Penguin from Batman Returns was also an active chain-smoker.

Towards the end, when he basically looks like a walking corpse, he just makes grunts that sound like a zombie from The Walking Dead. This performance will be remembered as one of the most over-the-top performances ever. His performance often made it hard to get through the movie because it was just so strange.

The only performer who seemed like they were really trying was Linda Cardellini as Capone’s wife. She gave a lot of emotion and was the only character I really liked. I somewhat felt bad for her as she had to watch the man she loved just slowly go insane. I feel like her position is relatable to anybody who has ever had to deal with a loved one who has a disability of some sort.

Final Verdict

Overall, I genuinely struggled to get through this movie. Not necessarily because it was bad, but because it was boring, and Hardy’s performance at times made it tough to watch. Chronicle is a great movie, so clearly Trank has talent, but this was not a good start to his rebound campaign. If you are expecting a cool gangster film about Capone, this is not it. There are some violent moments of his gangster lifestyle, but it is not enough to make the film all that interesting.

Final score: 1/5