User reviews

Summary: The movie centers on the final year before Al Capone's death. He suffers from dementia caused by advanced neurosyphilis.

While his wife, brother and sister in law, son, and old friends try to care for him, his mind wanders back and forth from his current state to haunting memories of his gangster past.

The setting, hair, makeup, costumes are fantastic. The movie takes place in a small universe - Capone's Florida estate. There are scenes outside of his estate, but largely it's focused on Capone and his family trying to care for his ailing health. This is because, in the final year of his life, his entire world IS the estate.

His hallucinations are largely due to dementia and a second stroke suffered during the movie. I think this is where audience members take issue with the movie. Some have criticized the movie as disjointed - but that's because the mind of a person with dementia is disjointed. Likewise, when the name Capone is mentioned, it almost always conjures up the image of Capone in his young years - a tough, shrewd, criminal that loved to indulge in parties, alcohol, and women, and was the genius mastermind behind numerous robberies and schemes.

Instead, what is presented to the audience is a disgusting, weak, demented old man who sh.ts the bed and pisses himself. His eyes are perpetually bloodshot, most of the time he's only capable of grunting or growling a few words, he walks with a doddering stumble, and his skin looks like death warmed over. These are actually symptoms of a person suffering from a neurodegenerative disease. Tom Hardy does an excellent job at portraying Capone in this manner. If you're familiar with caring for a person with dementia or mental decline, you would find his look and behavior eerily realistic. This also makes his hallucination/flashback scenes more realistic - and thus, why they have an element of "horror" to them.

It is also a very slow movie. It's anticlimactic. That is a valid criticism. It was a good watch, but I'll never watch it again. I got the main take away that Al Capone had a miserable few years at the end of his life.

Al Capone remains one of the most famous and iconic gangsters of all time. During the 1920s he practically owned Chicago (owing in part to prohibition). After spending several years in jail, he got released to his residence in Florida to live out the rest of his life. Suffering from neurosyphilis, Capone could only sit around reminiscing on his life of crime.

Josh Trank's "Capone" looks at this. Tom Hardy plays the moribund criminal. It's one intense performance. The rest of the characters didn't really stick in my mind. It's an OK movie, not great.

PS: Al Capone once said "Never trust a cop. You never know when he might go straight."

Film looks visually good but this is NOT a gangster movie so it doesn't deserve the 1 and 2 stars.

It's just about his descent into madness.

Real shame as you can see Tom Hardy has put some effort into this character but it just falls flat and the story just doesn't deliver.

If you read the reviews it's either Super good or Horrible , when you watch the movie you'll think the same thing. Is this Movie Genius or is it horrible? I rated it as a six because I get both sides of the other reviews

I could just as easily give this film a '2' on the enjoyment scale and a '9' on the acting and cinematography scale, since it is well made with beautiful colour, solid filmmaking and amazing acting, but not at all enjoyable to watch (vomiting, bowel movements and the degenerating mind of a violent nasty mobster.) But I love Tom Hardy and he plays Capone in his last days so well, it's hard to say this is not a good movie. Well acted well directed, but horrific. I would much rather see a younger Capone, and am not sure why so much great effort was put into such a disgusting tale, but maybe that's the whole point - in the end we are all the sum of the choices we make in life.

Literally he is the only good thing about this movie, some of it is hard to watch as well. It is also a confusing and convoluted movie with a very thin plot.

Well reading the reviews on this film I was fully expecting a horror show. So many hate this film, calling it boring, saying it doesn't make sense and much more. And although I agree it isn't the best thing ever made. It definitely isn't "bad".

• Right I'll just list off my main major issues with this film and my biggest one is, to put it simply, that it just didn't need to be a film. People know Al Capone as this famous gangster, people want to see him doing gangster things, not wet his pants. But on a more serious note, I just don't think the story aspect was interesting enough to make a film out of it. At the end of the day a film needs to be entertaining and have a story that's engaging and keeps you hooked in. I don't believe this does and if you are expecting a different kind of film you won't enjoy this.
• A lot of the film are dream sequences. Aka stuff that doesn't actually happen. Now some are important because it's illustrating him losing his mind, but it's a good 50/60% of the film. Which again links to the above in that there isn't enough here to make a film.
• Character depth, especially in the family department is non existent. I think the film could have focused a lot more on the family and how they had to deal with him, but they didn't. Just handed you another dream sequence which meant nothing.

Apologies for the long paragraph there. So I gave this film a 6/10 still. Why? Well, if you go into this film expecting to watch a slow burner and to watch Al Capone slowly get worse with illness then you will enjoy it more. You will enjoy the acting, you will enjoy the plot more, you will enjoy watching Capone's arc of getting worse and worse. But you need to know that's what you are watching, because I guarantee that a lot watched this with the anticipation of it being a biopic of his life and not just the final year.

The narrative is thin and insipid!

Lacking enough dramatic conflicts and too flat and direct narrative mode, the history full of "violence, blood, killing and hatred" evolved into "street farce".

Sometimes moralistic, sometimes combative, sometimes flirtatious, sometimes antagonistic, the story is so spontaneous and jumping that many viewers (who have never known this part of the past) can't keep up with the pace of the story.

Capone isn't a traditional mob film, it's a psychological descent into the fractured mind of a man undone by his own past. Tom Hardy fully commits to an unsettling, grotesque portrayal of Al Capone in his final years, delivering a performance that is as mesmerizing as it is divisive.

Director Josh Trank crafts a film heavy on mood and symbolism, blurring the line between reality and hallucination. The pacing is slow, sometimes frustratingly so, but the film's eerie, dreamlike quality effectively captures the weight of Capone's crumbling psyche.

However, Capone struggles with its own ambitions. Its loose structure and lack of a clear narrative may alienate some viewers, and Hardy's exaggerated mannerisms can feel excessive. Still, as a haunting meditation on guilt and decay, it offers something unique, if not entirely satisfying. Not a gangster epic, but a ghost story of a man haunted by himself.

Fairly useless movie. Pretty to look out, nice supporting casr, decent direction, a script that never leaves the station, however it gets a 6 because it has Tom Hardy. How real it is in terms of Capone's last days I think it is in the ball park, even if it is the cheap sheets. Let's be honest this movie is a mess and gpcomes by its nomination as the Years Worst Movie honestly. Their is no shame in it. The gaudiness of Italians vision of Florida is almost gringe worthy in its anti-Italian imagery. If it wasn't for Tom Hardy it would get a 3. Watching Tom Hardy read the telephone book is worth a 6. So take it or leave, but there you have it.

Typical Netflix movie : not good not bad ! A bit like a £10 wine 30 minutes after you don't remember it ... If The actuation of Hardy was excellent he's just not credible as Al Capone

'Capone' disappoints.

It's not what I was expecting. I hadn't heard much about it admittedly, but I was anticipating a full blown film about Al Capone - especially with the casting of Tom Hardy. That's not a bad thing in isolation, at all, but coupled with iffy storytelling it ends up being a waste.

Hardy (Al) is undoubtedly the best thing about this, yet I still think he had way more in him for this sort of role - if the filmmakers had allowed him to use it, of course. There aren't any standouts behind Hardy, though Linda Cardellini (Mae) and Kyle MacLachlan (Karlock) are OK.

There's nothing I massively dislike about this, I just wanted so much more from it. It is, I will say, at least a film that makes you think - I just don't, personally, think it came out as perhaps intended.

Writer/editor/director Josh Trank is to be commended for challenging himself as an artist. Choosing to tell the story of the last, crumbling year of Al Capone's life, when the man was befuddled through the effects of syphillis and stroke, Trank takes us into his protagonist's troubled mind as well as showing us his wilting body. Reality and delusion intertwine. It's occasionally unclear what's really going on. I'm not sure that matters too much, since we're not there for the plot so much as the overall experience.

In the titanic title role is Tom Hardy, an actor who has made a speciality of portaying men in extremis. And sure enough, he gives a bravura performance, on an epic scale. There's a classy supporting cast, too, including Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Jack Lowther and Al Sapienza.

For all the plusses, there's a touch of Tarantino-lite about the project: Mr Trask seems to lack the killer instinct that makes films like THE HATEFUL EIGHT so repulsive yet so compelling. Mr Trask, perhaps, simply has more heart. I'm hopeful that he can move away from superheroes and gangsters, towards the warmth that he's clearly interested in, but perhaps still wary of fully exploring.

Their greatest mistake was calling this film Capone. Otherwise, this is an interesting Art house film about Al Capone's descent into syphilis -fueled madness. I enjoyed it for a while. In its own sick way, Capone is entertaining. Tom Hardy is garbled as ever as the aging Capone. He goes all in, and it works. Since the film is so experimental, it's fatal flaw is how sloppy and incoherent it is. There is no real story here. It's just Al Capone and his melting brain. Watch it if you want, but don't go into this film thinking that it's a biopic. It is the farthest thing from it.

It's bound to be more difficult to choose to shoot a gangster legend in his twilight when he lost power and self-care ability than to shoot his arrogance after the beautiful moon. The director did not fail to live up to the expectations of the people, and made it boring and procrastinating. The whole movie, like the old al Capone, is full of a weak Twilight feeling, trapped in the devastation and self pity. Compared with the theme and volume, the finished product is like a stone thrown in the crocodile pool. However, our Mr. Tang is still as good as ever. After a few more years of work, I don't worry about no little golden man. And even get Noel Fisher and Mr. Tang look a little like each other.

An art house take on Capone's last days that has a lot going for it. Mostly it's the performances. Tom Hardy obviously chomping at the bit to do some Gary Oldman-esque fat-suit work, and to that end he mostly succeeds.

I feel like Hardy was leaning in more of a Death of Stalin direction with his performance, but you get the sense that the film almost betrays him. It only wants to dip a toe or two in the waters of comedic absurdity when it should have jumped right in.

I know it's useless to make suggestions after the fact but I'm drunk and this is the Internet. Maybe reallocate the time spent on the rather meaningless lost son subplot. Give it to the obsessed FBI agent. Develop him. A lot of comedic potential in the FBI's interest in a legendary criminal with the mind of a twelve year old. There's hints of that in here. Lots of hints of greatness.

I should clarify I'd never have dreamt of an Al Capone comedy until I saw this movie. Those elements are in the movie's DNA already. It's hilarious at points, but I never got the sense that the film wanted to be as funny as Tom Hardy wanted it to be.

Now, whether that's the film's fault, or Hardy's, who's to say. Either way, I don't regret watching it.

Yes this is based on a true story of a gangster, but it's not the typical style of gangster movie. The movie shows the mental effect of Capone's illness in a visual reputation. Yes it maybe slow at times but Tom Hardy's performance is excellent, the film shows the effect of his mental state upon himself and how it effects the people around him. Go in with an open mind and you will enjoy this movie.

The movie was slow and depressing. The hallucinations could be confusing...but Tom does a fantastic job. Very well acted.

"Capone" really can't be called a biography yet more of a final telling of the last days of one Al Capone as his life after serving time in prison for tax fraud is spent in sunny Florida. This picture is a flashback which looks at the pain and past wicked ways that helped shaped one Capone into a very violent figure. Showing from his early days as a ruthless businessman and bootlegger who ruled the streets of Chicago to the now present days of his fading life as he battles dementia. Along the way Al's family has remained while he's hid both his pride and money clearly it's a fortune! Tom Hardy is in fine form as his gravel deep voice set's Al apart from other gang figures. Overall not the best crime movie or bio type picture still it's a good reflection of an iron fist rulers final days.

This movie just Wasting my time bc i always watch great movies but CAPONE its not like graet movie COPONE is normal movie for normal class.