A “harrowing and true untold story” (as this film’s ad copy eagerly states) of Al Capone? Not exactly.
Al Capone (1899-1947) was a prohibition era businessman-gangster who became an extremely prolific figure in popular culture (as this film makes clear in scenes of Capone listening to radio dramatizations of his own criminal exploits). In the film world he was twice fictionalized by director Brian De Palma (in SCARFACE and THE UNTOUCHABLES), in addition to portrayals in classics like BAD COMPANY (1931), KEY LARGO (1948), AL CAPONE (1959), THE ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE (1967) and the original SCARFACE (1932).
It’s safe to say there’s never been an Al Capone movie like CAPONE (2020), about an ailing Capone in his final year of life. He’s portrayed not as an anti-hero (as in the two SCARFACES), nor a cartoony bad guy (as in THE UNTOUCHABLES), but as a has-been looking to redeem and/or compound his past sins. “True” this film may well be, but harrowing it definitely isn’t.
CAPONE marked a comeback of sorts for the film’s writer, director and editor Josh Trank, who made a splash with CHRONICLE in 2012 but flamed out rather spectacularly with the failed 2015 FANTASTIC FOUR reboot—for which he (fairly or unfairly) took all the blame. Critics have insisted on connecting Trank’s Hollywood trajectory with the Al Capone presented in this movie, although in truth the analogy doesn’t go very far (Trank isn’t middle aged, senile or a criminal, although many would claim his work on THE FANTASTIC FOUR falls into that category).
CAPONE takes place ten years after “Fonse” Capone’s 1931 prison sentence for tax evasion, with Capone, at age 48 (although he appears much older), exiled in a luxurious Florida mansion filled with forbidding hallways, together with his long-suffering wife Mae. The film opens with an homage to the final scene of THE GODFATHER, with Capone play-fighting with some kids at Thanksgiving. He also barks threats at his gardening staff, shoots an alligator, hallucinates, speaks on the phone with his estranged son, insults Mae and shits his bed. At some point he has a debilitating stroke, and his government appointed physician attempts to get Capone to reveal the location of a large sum of cash he buried years earlier. Eventually Capone finds his gold plated tommy gun and uses it accordingly.
Tom Hardy, who’s all-but cornered market on portrayals of real-life criminals (he previously incarnated Michael Peterson/Charles Bronson in 2008’s BRONSON and the Kray twins in 2015’s LEGEND), does a convincing incarnation of an ailing Al Capone, speaking in a raspy croak and moving in a way that seems authentically old mannish. He’s supported by a strong cast comprised of familiar faces (Linda Cardellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Matt Dillon) and reasonably well pulled-off period detail—although the SHINING-like horror movie trappings may be laid on a bit too thickly.
No, the film doesn’t entirely work, but Trank succeeds in maintaining viewer interest over a canvas in which very little happens. Action and violence are provided by the copious hallucinations and flashbacks, which invariably include a great deal of brutality and bloodletting, while the here-and-now scenes, dominated by a drooling, farting and babbling Capone, have a definite geek show fascination. This is certainly the only film to feature shooting rampage conducted by a diaper-wearing invalid, and I say that’s a sight worth seeing.
Vital Statistics
CAPONE
Bron Studios/Redbox Entertainment/Vertical Entertainment/Endeavor Content
Director/Screenwriter/Editor: Josh Trank
Producers: Russell Ackerman, Lawrence Bender, Aaron L. Gilbert, John Schoenfelder
Cinematography: Peter Deming
Cast: Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Jack Lowden, Noel Fisher, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Al Sapienza, Katherine Narducci, Gino Cafarelli, Mason Guccione, Rose Bianco, many Fajardo, Christopher Bianculli, Edgar Arreola