'Capone' Film Review: Tom Hardy Plays Aging Gangster in Bonkers Blood-Soaked Biopic

AWARDS BEAT

Martin Scorsese isn’t the only director who recently explored themes of regret at the end of a life of crime, but the elegant restraint of Scorsese’s “The Irishman” is nowhere to be found in Josh Trank’s “Capone.” Instead, the director has rebounded from a career low point (2015’s “Fantastic Four”) by whipping up a bloody and loopy re-creation of Al Capone’s final year, featuring another performance in which Tom Hardy laughs in the face of conventional notions of good v. bad acting.

“Knives Out” director Rian Johnson called “Capone” “bats— bonkers (in the best possible way)” on Twitter last month, and he’s certainly right about the first part of that phrase. Whether you buy “in the best possible way” will depend on your appetite for this particular kind of blood-soaked nuttiness.

You could think of “Capone” as “The Irishman” as reimagined by David Lynch, or as “Scarface” as tackled by the Stanley Kubrick of “The Shining” — but those descriptions don’t capture the singular cocktail of contemplation and lunacy that Trank makes of this long-in-the-works enterprise.

The director was a hot property after his indie sci-fi hit “Chronicle” in 2012, but his career took a nosedive after “Fantastic Four” flopped and his subsequent spat with 20th Century Fox as well as his removal from the standalone “Star Wars” movie he was slated to direct. Trank has said he found a personal connection to the final year in the life of Al Capone, the notorious gangster who spent his last days wracked with neurosyphilis-caused dementia on his Florida estate.

Also Read: 'Capone' Trailer Shows Tom Hardy as Legendary Gangster Late in Life (Video)

Hardy’s Alphonse Capone is called “Fonse” by everybody, which led to the film’s original title, “Fonzo.” He looks like hell and sounds worse, croaking his way through stories that may or may not have any connection to reality. After about half an hour in his company — which is enough time to see him vomit in a trash can and lose control of both his bladder and his bowels at separate times — one hopes for Trank’s sake that the director doesn’t feel too close a connection with the gangster.

The film, which premieres on VOD on Tuesday, is set in 1946 and ’47, when Capone was a mental and physical wreck after decades of living with syphilis. The one-time ganglord, freed after seven years at Alcatraz because of his failing health, is sequestered at his Palm Island estate with his wife and son, along with an array of aides who take care of him under the watchful eye of the feds. He can remember that he hid $10 million somewhere, but he can’t remember where.

All of this bears some connection to the real events of Capone’s life, but historical fidelity is the least of anybody’s concerns here. The camera glides through stately rooms as Puccini, Vivaldi and Pachelbel play, with the classical music a brazen counterpoint to the messiness of what’s happening in front of us.

Also Read: Even 'Fantastic Four' Director Josh Trank Agrees His 2015 Reboot Was Just 'Alright'

“Capone” is most interesting when it’s at its most extreme. The first big WTF moment might come when he watches “The Wizard of Oz” in his private screening room, and eagerly jumps in front of the screen to join in with the Cowardly Lion on “If I Were King of the Forest” in his diseased croak. (There’s a reason that “Oz,” a film that is explained as a dream, is a touchstone here.)

Hardy’s performance flirts with unintelligibility at every turn, but that’s nothing new for the actor. Buried under layers of prosthetics, he’s a crazy old man hallucinating his way down dark and haunted hallways; his body might be in a comfortable mansion, but his brain lives in a dreamscape littered with his victims and his foes.

Back in the “real” world, Capone’s most steadfast companion is his wife, Mae, played by Linda Cardellini in a way that reminds us that the actress still knows her way around the role of the long-suffering, patient wife of a goombah. (Capone definitely makes being supportive harder than Viggo Mortensen’s Tony Lip did in “Green Book.”)

Also Read: 'Fantastic Four' Flop: How Much Damage Did Director Josh Trank's Tweet Cause?

For a while, the film seems to traffic in elegant creepiness and little character moments, but soon enough all hell breaks loose, bodily fluids start dripping and viewers have to make up their minds: Are you going to run from this whacked-out twilight of the gods, or give in to it?

It’s nuts, it’s a mess and it’s pretty damn entertaining if you don’t mind characters pooping the bed and getting stabbed in the neck. (Not at the same time, FYI, and not the same character.) At times, it’s also downright cartoonish — and cartoonish is exactly the right word when, after Capone suffers a stroke, a doctor played by Kyle MacLachlan lays down the law: No more cigars, ever. “I suggest you give him one of these,” he says, pulling a carrot out of his bag.

“What is he, f—ing Bugs Bunny?” one of Capone’s aides snaps.

Yeah, for the rest of the movie there is something a little Bugsy about the guy. But hey, you haven’t seen Al Capone until you’ve seen him chomping on a carrot and wielding a machine gun while wearing a droopy diaper.

And of course, Josh Trank takes you there.

17 Actors Who've Played Al Capone: From Tom Hardy to Robert De Niro (Photos)

Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you're curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.
Rod Steiger - "Al Capone" (1959) • Rod Steiger played Capone with deliberate showiness, from the roar of his voice to the tilt of hid fedora. Although he won a Laurel Award for his performance, Capone's sister wasn't crazy about the film – she sued the filmmakers for $10 million for invasion of privacy because they failed to get permission from the Capone estate to make it. The suit was eventually dismissed. Check out Steiger as Capone in a clip here.
Allied Artists
Neville Brand - "The George Raft Story" (1961) • Although Neville Brand had an extensive resume that had him appearing in dozens of television shows for three decades, he is most recognizable for playing Capone from 1959-61 in the series "Untouchables" and the film "The George Raft Story." But giving the famed mobster a broken-English, sort of bad Italian accent in the TV pilot didn't sit well with the Italian American community. Check out Brand's performance in the clip here.
Allied Artists
Jason Robards - "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (1967) • Director Roger Corman was criticized for casting the slender Jason Robards as the stout Capone but the future "All the President's Men" Oscar winner nailed the bad guy's intimidating and volatile demeanor. Robards, wasn't Corman's first choice to fill the role, however… Orson Welles was. Check out Robards' performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Ben Gazzara - "Capone" (1975) • The second of three films Roger Corman produced about Capone, this one spattered heavily with blood, nudity and profanity, and one of many gangster projects produced after the wild success of "The Godfather: Part II." Check out Gazzara's performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Robert De Niro - "The Untouchables" (1987) • Of all the actors who have portrayed Capone, Robert De Niro's performance is probably the one best remembered by most. Ironically, he wasn't the first actor cast in the Brian DePalma film. That honor went to British actor (and Capone lookalike) Bob Hoskins, who had already been paid $200,000 when the studio decided to go with De Niro. The Oscar-winner not only gained 30 pounds for the role, but he also wore the same style of silk underwear that Capone wore to, well, feel the part. Check out De Niro's performance by clicking here.
Paramount Pictures
Ray Sharkey - "The Revenge of Al Capone" tv movie (1989) • Also known as "Capone Behind Bars," this film tells the story of an imprisoned Capone still running his empire and plotting the assassination of the mayor of New Work. Check out Sharkey's performance by clicking here.
NBC
Eric Roberts - "The Lost Capone" tv movie (1990) • Eric Roberts played Al Capone to Adrian Pasdar's Jimmy Capone in this fictionalized telling of Scarface's relationship with his older brother, who changed his last name to "Hart" and became a federal prohibition agent. Check out Roberts' performance by clicking here.
Patchett Kaufman Entertainment
Titus Welliver - "Mobsters" (1991) • A year after playing Al's brother Ralph in "The Lost Capone," Titus Welliver nabbed the role of Scarface himself in "Mobsters," which tells the story of the rise of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello and Bugsy Siegel. Los Angeles Times film critic Peter Rainer wrote, "Mobsters looks like it was made by people who have seen too many gangster films for people who haven't seen any." Check out Welliver's performance by clicking here.
Universal Pictures
William Forsythe - "The Untouchables" tv series (1993-94) • In 1993, William Forsythe took on the role of Capone in a reboot of the popular TV series of the early '60s, "The Untouchables." Check out his performance by clicking here.
Paramount Television
William Devane - "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" tv series (1994) • Thanks to a little DNA manipulation by a mad scientist, Capone is regenerated and set on taking over Metropolis like he took over 1930's Chicago. Check out Devane's performance by clicking here.
ABC
F. Murray Abraham - "Dillinger and Capone" (1995) • In Roger Corman's third go at telling a story about the notorious mobster, "Amadeus" Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham played Capone to Martin Sheen's John Dillinger in this imagined tale of the two gangsters teaming up to rob a bank. Abraham again played Capone in the film "Baby Face Nelson" the following year. Check out Abraham as Capone by clicking here.
Concorde-New Horizons
Jon Bernthal - "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009) • In this sequel to the 2006 comedy starring Ben Stiller, Jon Bernthal's Capone -- along with other baddies Ivan the Terrible and Napoleon Bonaparte -- is enlisted to help retrieve the tablet that brought the human and animal exhibits in the museum to life. Check out Bernthal's performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Stephen Graham - "Boardwalk Empire" tv series (2010-2014) • Stephen Graham told The Guardian that he and the producers of the HBO series wanted to create a side of Capone that went unseen by most. "We wanted him to be funny because he was just a kid. He was a bright little spark, he did OK at school," Graham said. "We've never really seen him with his family before. He was also true to his wife in the days when they had mistresses left, right and centre." Check out Graham's performance by clicking here.
HBO
Michael Kotsohilis - "The Making of the Mob: Chicago" miniseries (2016) • This AMC docu-series was the origin story that told the rise and fall of the Chicago mob and Al Capone. Of his role, Michael Kotsohilis told WGN Radio, “I wanted to really show how he evolved and his real change from a young man into this cold-blooded killer.” Check out his performance by clicking here.
AMC
Isaac Keoughan - "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" tv series (2016) • DC legends, Thawne, Darhk and Malcolm transport to 1927 Chicago, where they prevent Capone from killing famed Prohibition agent, Eliot Ness. Check out Isaac Keoughan's performance by clicking here.
Warner Bros. Television
Cameron Gharaee - "Timeless" tv series (2017) • Flynn lands in 1931 Chicago to help Capone escape from prison in exchange for a favor. Check out Gharaee's performance by clicking here.
NBC
Tom Hardy - "Capone" (2020) • The "Venom" actor becomes totally unrecognizable playing Capone in the last year of his life, suffering from dementia at his Palm Island, Florida mansion. As TheWrap's own Steve Pond put it in his review of the film, "You haven't seen Al Capone until you've seen him chomping on a carrot and wielding a machine gun while wearing a droopy diaper." Check out Hardy's performance by clicking here.

Vertical Entertainment

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Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge of playing the legendary larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss

Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you're curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.

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