Originally called Fonzo, this film ended up on the video on demand system instead of wide distribution and cinema screenings. That system is characteristic of projects from which not much is expected, and the name of the film was changed to Capone. Some say that this development of the situation is completely understandable due to the corona epidemic, but it was difficult not to remain a little disappointed that a film that has been talked about since 2016, with great potential, an interesting protagonist and a charismatic lead actor, will end ingloriously, without a strong distributor and without cinema screenings.
However, after watching it, I believe that many understood why the producers did not expect anything great from this film. Everyone has heard of Al Capone, the gangster who ran the mob in South Chicago during the 1920s, and the irony of his downfall is that he was arrested for tax evasion, not for infamous crimes. The script deals with the last year of his life when, after being released from prison, he lives on a large estate in Florida with his wife May (Linda Cardellini). We see that the disease is gaining more and more momentum, that he is starting to hallucinate and that he is haunted by the ghosts of the past, and the former fear and trembling no longer have control even over his own body.
We were of the opinion that the bad reviews of this film were a product of the expectations of the viewers, who might have wanted to see some epic biopic about the life of Al Capone. I understand the idea of the author Josh Trank (Josh Trank), who wanted to eliminate the glitz and glamor of the criminal legend, making him a frail old man (even though he is 47 years old) facing the horrors and failures of his life. There is a scene towards the end of the film when Capone with a machine gun and a wicked look resembles his legendary character, but carrots instead of tompus and adult diapers bring him back to miserable reality.
It will turn out that the problem of the film is the concept itself, which certainly had potential, but was realized very sloppily. Somehow, while watching the film, I felt like a voyeur observing a sick man, but without any feeling of support or sympathy – I practically didn’t care about this character, and the feeling of indifference towards the main protagonist is usually not a characteristic of quality scripts.
The script also provides us with a very loose side story in which the FBI and certain family members try to get information on where Capone hid ten million dollars. As for hallucinations, my problem is that they are vague and don’t give us any new, feedback. The people and events in them are simply not placed in the context of a person’s current life, as if they are there only to torment the conscience of Capone himself. In the background, we listen to a radio play about him, which serves to remind us what kind of reputation this man had, but even so, the script relies a lot on the fact that we already know his life from before.
Tom Hardy is certainly the main reason why this movie gained popularity. Recently, he has become the subject of Internet memes because in his roles he either has something over his mouth or mumbles unintelligibly, and here he continued in that rhythm. I believe that his intentions were in the right place and it is evident that he got into the role, but with his mumbling, regardless of whether he has a tompus in his teeth or not, he irritated me quite a bit. Parody is probably too strong a word to use to describe his performance, but the fact is that he has stepped into that field several times.
