Capone; Josh Trank’s Vision is Well Appreciated... However it’s Not All There. Grade: C-

Capone tells the events of Al Capone’s (Tom Hardy) last year of his life, in which he partakes in Florida on government watch. We see Al Capone struggling through mental illness, as he can’t tell where he’s at, sees past events, as he also is struggling to keep himself together physically. Witness an unnerving experience from one of the most notorious gangsters of all time.

The Cinematography was fine. My favorite shot of the entire film was when Capone in the ballroom, as many balloons fall to the ground... That was cool. One shot I didn’t understand why it was shown is swamp water upside down, due to the previous scene shown, didn’t really correlate correctly. The Score was solid, it set the haunted tone for this film nicely. The cast was pretty good for the most part, I don’t have much complaints as the performances were nice, despite the script being so out there. Tom Hardy playing Al Capone was pretty good, really fits the disturbed nature of this character. Is it better than previous disturbed characters Hardy has played in the past?! Certainly not, however Hardy’s performance is going to be the other standout for this film, only it’ll actually be presented in a positive way. Al Capone as written in this film is a bit of mixed bag. There are certainly some elements I wish we’re explored more, but it does become an interesting character study. Really enjoyed Linda Cardellini’s performance, as well as Matt Dillion’s as well.

Capone was actually my most anticipated film of this month. Tom Hardy returning in what possibly could be an extremely entertaining film?! HELL YEAH I said. The film comes from director Josh Trank, whom made a great film with Chronicle and a complete flop with Fantastic Four. With Capone I felt Trank has improved from his last release obviously, however still can’t get over the hump from his first success in Chronicle.

Capone would’ve immensely flopped if released in theaters, as this is a very art house style film, in which the audience has to think. For me this film comes as a very interesting experiment, as I felt like I was inside the mind of Capone while watching. I felt as I was puzzling in as to what scenes represented in Capone’s mind or what they throughly mean? Though many will call this film dull, I however found it to be a somewhat fascinating experiment, as I can somewhat appreciate Trank’s vision. Though this film is clearly out of range in what I expected to receive, I still however felt underwhelmed with this film. For one thing I didn’t like how it was revealed early on, that Capone was not all there mentally. Once we’re told that majority of the scenes would be fake, it does become a less fascinating experience. Imagine Shutter Island revealed the plot twist early on... It just wouldn’t be as fascinating nor would deliver a terrific conclusion many film lovers do discuss to this day.

I felt some of Capone’s life could’ve been explored a little more. We are given into little details of what haunts Capone, however are not shown in it’s true exact form, where we would like to explore more than leave with more questions. The scenes involving reporters and the government we’re extremely bizarre. Also this one reporter comes out of nowhere... Who the hell is this guy?! The finale of this film was extremely... Odd. Even as the final shot, you’re kind of confused due to the reveal, so you exactly don’t know if anything is real at all. Though Capone hasn’t been received well, I do however feel we’ll end up seeing more discussion behind this film. It is a rather bold and interesting approach, to where it does deliver a odd art house style mind numbing experience. However it just doesn’t work completely, as I just would recommend Shutter Island over this.

Overall, Capone was alright. I would still check it out as a rental, be warned this film is not for everybody... My parents weren’t too fond of this film. -Mitch Smietana