Vertical Entertainment
There is no denying that Tom Hardy is one of the best actors working today. With his performances in such films as The Dark Knight Rises and Warrior, he can fully commit to a role. Since it was announced that he would be playing the famous gangster Al Capone, it seemed like he was going to nail another performance. Being under the direction of Josh Trank, this had the potential to be a terrific film. Trank was coming off the horrible superhero film The Fantastic Four, but directed Chronicle which I thought was well-made. I was hoping that Trank could have a comeback with Capone, but this is another film from him that did not work.
The idea to have a movie that focused on the weakest part of Al Capone’s life was a unique way to tell a story. Most biopics follow a similar structure but Trank decided to go a different route which could have been dramatic. I was not sure what Trank was trying to get across when making this film. I had the sense that Capone was a drama. It had all the elements that make up a drama. The score and story were dark, but I could not shake the feeling that it was a comedy. The film dealt with serious issues like Capone’s dementia that he was suffering from towards the end of his life. Dementia is a serious thing and is a disease that should not be made fun of. At times it felt like Trank was poking fun at dementia and it was a bit upsetting at times.
Vertical Entertainment
This is not Tom Hardy’s best work. With the mixture of his odd voice and mannerisms, it was hard to buy his performance. The makeup for Hardy as Capone was great and he was fully committed to acting as Capone, but he never reached a level that felt believable. While I admired Hardy’s commitment to the role, it often came off as dull even when he was hallucinating people or shooting at things.
Many characters are introduced in the film but never play an integral part in the story. They either play a part in his nightmarish flashbacks or just stand around while Capone defecates himself. At times, the film is difficult to follow because it sets up characters that Capone is hallucinating but we are to believe that characters that part of the story. There are also characters that are introduced that seem like they will play an important part in the story but are later revealed to be hallucinations. What makes these encounters even more frustrating is that Trank starts to tell a story of people looking for Capone’s money, but he does it way too late in the film. I never found any storylines in the film to be interesting as most parts of the movie felt thin and poorly executed.
There were a lot of things that went wrong with Capone right from the beginning. With Trank writing, directing, and editing the film, it is hard to think that he will reach the same level that he did with Chronicle. His choppy editing style made the film lack any direction. Scenes popped up left and right with little information as to what was going on. I could not tell if Trank wanted to tell a dramatic story of the weakest part of Capone’s life or tell a parody instead. Whatever he wanted to do; it was not executed well.
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