'Capone'-Tom Hardy Finds His Inner 'Dick Tracy' Villain

Following the "Fanatic" with another over the top performance from an actor that's beyond comical, Redbox Entertainment presents "Capone." A film made by the guy who tried to make "Fantastic Four" dark, then burned his bridges with everyone in the studio resulting in him losing a deal on creating a "Star Wars" movie. Josh Trank goes full-blown wacko in his newest project. Desperately attempting not to capture the typical biopic about the infamous Chicago mobster, Trank reenacts the final days of Al Capone's life through the graciousness of a dramatic license that's more harmful than artful.

Depicting a 48-year-old Capone, it was hard to distinguish Tom Hardy as taking the titular role seriously or not. Acting through what must have been hours of prosthetic makeup appliance, Tom Hardy grunts his way through a performance that makes Burgess Meredith's Penguin come off as quaint. Hardy may not be entirely to blame as Josh Trank's script consists of dialogue containing mere noises and threats spoken in Italian via Capone's lines. Stripping the power away from Capone, Trank attempts to reveal the story of a deeply flawed broken shell of a man who's haunted by his violent past. Unable to cope with the secrets that he kept to himself for years, Al Capone suffers through syphilis and dementia, rendering him forgetful of virtually anything, or so he may lead everyone on to believe to a certain extent.

Such an angle would have been fascinating to see if there was any resemblance of humanity in Capone. As despicable as Mr. Capone may have been, it is up to the filmmaker to make us feel a level of understanding for a protagonist. That doesn't necessarily mean we have to sympathize with that character. For instance, in "There Will Be Blood," Danielle Planeview has close to no redeeming qualities in the film. To keep the audience from totally being uninvested in Planeview, Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson provides nuances of humanity in the character. At the beginning of the film, we witness Daniel struggling physically as an everyday minor to make decent pay. When his son is injured later in the movie, Planeview attempts to display affection for his boy, but ultimately places business as a priority over his personal feelings resulting in him abandoning his child. Although monstrous, Daniel Planeview is an understandable amalgamation of greed encompassed within the vessel of one man.

Capone is an irredeemable vile being whose hallucinations of the past provides no clear context on how this man is hurt from the inside. It's nothing more than pure cinematic pretension masquerading as an introspective reflection of a profoundly flawed man's psyche. What I viewed wasn't art but rather something coming from an edgy teenager thinking that he's making a hybrid of "Twin Peaks" and "The Shining." Hardy's performance wouldn't be so laughable if the entire picture's cast matched his level of zaniness. Everyone from Linda Cardellini, as Capone's wife May, down to Matt Dillon as Al's imaginary friend Johnny, plays everything straight. In the middle of all these routine performances is Tom Hardy, who seems to be ripped straight out of "Dick Tracy."

I must confess there is a rewatchability value in "Capone" the same as there's a benefit in viewing a B movie multiple times. "Capone" is one of those rare occasions where it's so bad it's good. Every questionable direction from Louis Armstrong singing Blueberry Hill amongst a hallucinogenic trip, to a woman telling Al to "dig where it's wet" on top of lots of diaper pooping scenes, Josh Trank constructs an unintentionally hilarious post mortem crime piece. "Capone" is the type of film you watch for a few laughs with your friends because you all know that the director is taking his eye-rolling material so sincerely.

Let this be a lesson to all-rookie filmmakers; if you want to make a Lynchian type film, then you better be David Lynch himself. Any impersonators are easily going to walk into a hole as deep as Al Capone's grave. In a way, Josh Trank's onset animosity can be visibly seen through his sophomoric attempt at making a failed quasi art flick about the most notorious gangster alive. I felt like I could hear Mr. Trank yelling, "yeah, well, F you because I'm doing this! How do you like that?" I like it just fine, Josh; you gave me some good chuckles even if you didn't mean to.

DON'T SEE IT, Recommended, SEE IT!

Verdict: DON'T SEE IT... Unless you love good, bad movies