Capone movie review

Al Capone as a zombie? I’ll take it.

“Capone” is written, directed, and edited by Josh Trank and stars Tom Hardy as the infamous gangster Al Capone. The film takes place in the last years of Capone’s life, as he suffers from syphilis and dementia.

When this movie was first announced in 2016, I was excited as I’m sure everyone was. Hardy playing Capone? YES! When the trailer came out in April and it showed an older Capone, I was definitely intrigued but was still excited.

“Capone” is a much different take on a gangster biopic movie, but it worked for me. It wouldn’t be a Tom Hardy movie if there wasn’t some sort of crazy makeup or some strange mumbling voice. Hardy is really good as Capone. I’m sure critics will say the performance is nothing special because most of the movie is just Hardy mumbling, staring into space, or shitting his pants. While yes, Hardy’s performance is over the top and he sounds like Nick Nolte, he does a great job portraying a man who is decaying and slowly dying.

The main plot of this movie is kind of simple: Capone living his final years at his home in Florida. He has the brain of a 12-year-old but still has evil inside of him. He is hallucinating that people are spying on him, he sees dead people and is living through regret. One plot throughout the movie is that he buried or hid 10 million dollars somewhere but doesn’t remember where. That is about it though.

This is Trank’s first movie back since the Fantastic Four debacle and he does a good job. The script is written well, and his vision seems to be realized. I really do admire what he aimed for and he has said in interviews that this movie is very personal and was therapeutic. Do I wish the movie was about the entire life of Capone? Yes, however, I will take this version.

The only thing that really bugged me was some of the hallucinations and characters. What was the point of Matt Dillon’s character? He seemed real, but was he? Dillon comes to see Capone and then takes him fishing and then he’s gone. He then reappears in a hallucination with his eyes cut out. I don’t get it. Whatever. There are a couple of other characters that are just thrown in the movie but aren’t really fleshed out.

Overall, I really enjoyed “Capone”. The main reason to watch this movie is to watch Hardy descend into madness and it really is enjoyable to see. I’m glad Trank decided to make this movie his next project and I am excited to see what he has up his sleeve next. If you go into this movie knowing it is about an older Capone I think you will enjoy it like me.


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