8/12/20 - Capone (2020) - 4-/10

What a fever dream melange of the metaphorical, the maniacal, and muddled mysterious. It is the (literal) syphilitic gangster brain equivalent of the strange meandering down the Nung River (Apocalypse Now, if it didn’t click). It comes complete with horrific violence, losing oneself, oddly dashed sexuality, uncomfortable dinner table discussions, and a bald headed goal with no answers - but this is a pale shade of that glorious pinnacle, making much less sense and engrossing only in Hardy’s chomps down the rabbit hole.

We follow Hardy on this Jacob’s Ladder brain drip, as he grumbles, gruffs, and grunts through an invested but incomprehensible Alphonse Capone performance. I can’t say that he wasn’t all in with this, but the audience being an informed passenger would have helped. Linda Cardellini was an unsung delight, nearly wasted again as the new world Italian wife (her now standard character?), but she wrings every scene she is in for all they are worth without “making a scene”. Matt Dillon was a bit of an enigma, purposeful yes, but his presence was limbo inducing.

Such an odd film to seemingly give Josh Trank free reign with. Big stars, a puzzling while sickeningly straight forward non-plot, and a ton of Jack Torrence in the Shining larks in insanity town. It kept me watching, but mostly to see how the degradation would end.