Watching the film Capone was an entire experience. It will give you a headache from trying to figure out what exactly happened. It’s awesome. It could’ve had a better story plot, but the way the movie makes you feel emotionally and mentally is what makes it so unique.
Anyone who has heard the name Al Capone knows it’s a name that struck fear in many people from the 1920s to the ’40s.This story, however, is not the tale of Al Capone the mob boss but of a tortured man with extreme deteriorating health. Although this story is for the most part fictional it does give you an insight into what the last year of Capone’s life would have been like as he was slowly dying from late stage syphilis.
It does help to know a little bit of background information about Capone as throughout the film some of the horrible things he’s done comes back to haunt him. It’s up to you decide if it haunts him figuratively or literally. The important thing to know before watching this film is that Capone was the mastermind behind many terrible events that plagued Chicago in the 1920s including the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.
Although the law and public were aware of this, they could not put him in prison for it because, unfortunately, many of the judges and juries at the time were bribed so they had to settle for getting him on tax invasion charges instead.
In 1939, after serving a portion of his sentence, he was released from prison due to his declining health. This story begins in 1947, the last year of his life when he and his family were exiled to Florida. When you meet Capone, he is not like his infamous pictures that circle books and the internet; he his frail, skinny, has leathery skin and icy blue bloodshot eyes. It’s terrifying.
Tom Hardy stars as Capone and his entire performance is chilling in the best way possible. His impression of the mobster’s voice is spot on and with his prosthetic makeup it’s a whole transformation.
As syphilis starts to attack his nervous system and his brain his state of mind begins to regress. His wife Mae, played by Linda Cardellini, is told by the family doctor that his mental state has regressed to that of a small child. This is also when the hallucinations begin and this is where you, along with Capone, begin to spiral out of control. Throughout the film he experiences so many hallucinations that by the middle of the film you find yourself in the same boat as Capone and are questioning what’s real and what isn’t.
You begin to question whether the people he was actually speaking to were there. Were they ghosts? Every single time that it seems that everything is back to normal and that the hallucination has ended you find out that a new one has begun and you won’t know when the next one begins either. He begins to turn against his family because he is paranoid that the FBl is secretly listening to his every conversation with the intention of putting him behind bars again.
His paranoia is what makes the family doctor warn them about the possibility of him becoming extremely dangerous.
The cinematography is very ominous and has a dark aesthetic that sets the mood for the whole film. The thing about this film is that it doesn’t really have a point. It’s simply telling a story which is what got it mixed reviews. You either love this film for what it is or you hate it. There really isn’t an in between.
Overall, it’s an extremely intense movie that at some points is uncomfortable to watch but in the best way possible. It’s a film that frightens and tricks the mind. It’s a borderline psychological thriller. It’s a highly enjoyable experience if you take it for what it is. If you wanna give this film a try you can find it on Amazon Prime Video or for rent on YouTube.