Review: Capone

Image courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.

I'll say this for Josh Trank's "Capone" - despite its flaws, the film keeps one's attention at all times. To answer the question: yes, the film is as outlandish and over-the-top as you might have heard - but no, it's not quite as bad. Which is not to say that it's good either.

Tom Hardy gives the type of oddball performance that only someone great like Marlon Brando could have provided - one that involves a fair amount of hamming it up, but completely committed to the role and operating on its own wavelength.

For those who are expecting - or hoping for - a biopic of America's most notorious gangster, disappointment might be the instant reaction. The picture is set during the final year of Al Capone's life, and he has been released from prison to rot away in his gaudy mansion in Florida, while the ghosts of his past haunt him and his body degenerates from neurosyphilis and dementia. More of a phantasmagoria that has more in common with, say, "The Shining" than "The Untouchables," Trank's film is a slowly paced, but often deliriously strange, chronicle of one man's descent into madness and decay.

Throughout the course of the film, Hardy's Capone mostly communicates by blurting out "eh" to questions from the concerned family members, who refer to him as "Fonse" and don't know how to handle his falling apart at the seams. A man played by Matt Dillon appears to question Capone about $10 million that he apparently hid away somewhere - although he's forgotten the location due to his decline in health - but we later question exactly who the Dillon character is.

Lawmen listen in to Capone's conversations via wire, and a doctor played by Kyle MacLachlan, who also has his own schemes planned, also attempt to get information from Capone, but with little luck. Fonse's patient wife (Linda Cardellini) and son are frustrated at their incapacity to help Capone as he wastes away.

The film is filled with nutty moments - Capone shoots an alligator that steals a fish he's caught on a line, a possible dream sequence in which he shoots a gold-plated tommy gun at family and friends is especially jarring and another moment during which Fonse leaves the house incognito in women's clothing has to be seen to be believed.

All the while, Hardy rasps, mutters and looks like a half-dead zombie in his kooky - but energetic - portrayal of Capone. In fact, the actor - and the gorgeous photography - are really the main reason the film remains mostly watchable. I'm not sure what Trank, who also wrote the script, is trying to convey in this film - it's somewhat without a purpose - and it's unclear whether it's over-the-top vibe is intentional or accidental.

All in all, "Capone" is sort of a mess - but a good looking one with a compelling lead performance. I can't exactly recommend it, but it's occasionally transfixing.