Reviewer Hugh Verheylewegen has a look at Capone, starring Tom Hardy.
Directed by Josh Trank, Capone (originally titled Fonzo) chronicles the final days of notorious gangster Al Capone (played by Tom Hardy) as he succumbs to dementia and relives his past through tormenting memories, while also coming into conflict with the authorities.
I have always had a soft spot for gangster biopics, especially underrated ones like Black Mass and Legend (which interestingly also has Tom Hardy) so when I first heard of this movie I was interested. The life and history of Al Capone is certainly an infamous and well known one, but this film focuses on one of the lesser known times of his life, which was his final years after having been released from prison and diagnosed with several severe health conditions such as Neurosyphilis and, as mentioned before, dementia.
But this wasn’t just a simple biopic, this was a dive into a violent man’s deterioration, physically and especially mentally.
Tom Hardy delivers a very striking performance here as he plays the part of a gangster that was once on top of the world but is slowly degrading into nothing. And while you’d think that such a horrible man definitely deserves this kind of fate for the things he’s done, you kind of have an uncomfortable feeling of sympathy for him when you realize how far gone his mind is as well as his bodily functions.
He has various hallucinations from crimes he committed in the past to people he thinks are with him but aren’t really there. Some parts of his performance you could say are over the top but the moments where his dementia is kicking in I think are very realistic and very emotional in a certain way. It’s a very horrible thing for anyone to live with and it’s also a very sensitive topic to tackle in a film.
Things progressively get more bonkers, building up to scenes where the violent monster inside him lashes out, ready to create all sorts of chaos.
The rest of the performances are all pretty great overall, though I think Hardy definitely takes more of the spotlight here. The narrative mostly focuses on the spiraling descent for this key figure, with everyone else just scrambling around to see what they could get from this situation. I was mostly interested in what Capone was going through.
The movie is incredibly well shot, with some gorgeous cinematography that establishes a somewhat unnerving setting despite the beautiful surroundings. The visuals can range from gorgeous to downright disturbing in various scenes, and yet always excellent shots throughout. There are elements of horror present that were surprising.
There is also a very great shot that occurs in one scene where Capone is watching the Wizard of Oz, that honestly spoke volumes. The shot and the scene itself shows the shell of a man who had great power and didn’t take shit from anyone.
The score starts at a subtle level and becomes creepy when Capone begins to hallucinate, and I found it to be effective.
The editing is primarily the issue in different places, especially with the intro credits sequence, despite having some great cinematography and a soft score to go with it. I feel things cut too quickly in some parts, not allowing us to fully absorb the impact of some scenes. I wish things were just more smoothed out to fully appreciate the good things the film offers.
I could see this being a very polarizing film as it certainly won’t be for everyone. The film has potential to have a cult following for some elements of it, but a lot of it depends on how the viewers perceive it.
For me, I am not entirely sure how to feel about this film, but I think it isn’t a bad movie as a lot of critics and some reviewers seem to overly express. There was passion put into this film, and it shows signs of a filmmaker who can still have potential and not be some “one hit wonder,” as he’s been dubbed by some. I hope to see Josh Trank be able to come back and fuel his passion regardless of the hits he’s taken. I’m going to give Capone a B.
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