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Mixed reviews land for Tom Hardy's 'Capone'

Capone (Credit: Vertical Entertainment)
Capone (Credit: Vertical Entertainment)

Movie fans revelled in Tom Hardy's latest 'funny accent' when the trailer for Josh Trank's biopic movie Capone was unexpectedly unveiled last month.

But it seems that it's a mixed bag of plaudits and pannings for the British actor's turn as an ageing Al Capone.

Read more: Tom Hardy Capone movie goes straight to VOD

Reviews have landed for the new movie, in which Hardy plays the legendary Chicago mobster in his final days, languishing under house arrest and ravaged by ill health, madness and venereal disease.

Some have praised Hardy's 'feral' performance, with The Guardian offering three-stars.

“It’s an interesting film, which Trank tops off with a contrived finale of bizarre, spectacular (and contrived) violence... It’s a little unfinished and anticlimactic, but atmospheric,” reckons Peter Bradshaw.

Writes The Wrap: “You haven't seen Al Capone until you've seen him chomping on a carrot and wielding a machine gun while wearing a droopy diaper.”

Tom Hardy as Al Capone (Credit: Tom Hardy/Instagram)
Tom Hardy as Al Capone (Credit: Tom Hardy/Instagram)

But in the main, the celebratory notices are hard to come by.

Per The Hollywood Reporter: “Capone is definitely an unconventional take on the twilight of a notorious gangster. Alas, it's not an interesting one, although the borderline self-parodying Method madness of Tom Hardy's performance does kind of demand to be seen.”

Read more: Trank says Fantastic Four reshoots were like ‘being castrated’

Says veteran critic Richard Roeper: “Capone is a noxious film about a noxious man - a gruesome and grotesque viewing experience that tells us nothing new about Capone while rubbing our noses in one detestable scene after another.”

“The film's arresting oddity is fleeting, and then we're just made to sit with it for another humid 90 minutes,” reckons Vanity Fair.

Finally, The Playlist warns: “If Tom Hardy cannot figure out a way to dial into the frequency of his directors, people will stop seeing a master performer at work. They'll just see a meme.”

Capone is available the rent on VOD from today.