Alphonse Capone (Ben Gazzara) started as a low-level thug in Brooklyn in 1916. He had ambition, however, spotted by Johnny Torrio (Henry Guardino), the mafia godfather of Chicago. And when Torrio needed a junkyard dog to help him break into bootlegging during Prohibition, he knew exactly who to call. Capone served under his mentor but soon grew frustrated by what he perceived as an unwillingness to implement extreme measures. He forced Torrio into retirement and set his sights on eliminating all the other organized crime outfits in Chicago, sparking a bloody series of ambushes and reprisals. Untouchable thanks to kickbacks in all the right places, the authorities were at a loss as to what to do about Capone without also destroying their careers and lives, until Al's own lieutenant, Frank Nitti (Sylvester Stallone), turned over his bank records to the IRS.
This is an unapologetic and unromantic view of Capone, who has been softened with age. People focus on how he created expiration labels for milk (true) and not how he regularly gunned down people in the street. A Robin Hood mythos to balance out the corrupt cops and politicians. But this is a false dichotomy. Capone can be a bad guy as well as responding to a bad system. Gazzara is great as the burly, scarred kingpin, while Stallone is extremely toned-down compared to later roles.
It's unfortunately only available to stream for rental but physical copies still exist. It's a nice corollary to Scarface. Like a biography versus hagiography.
No comments:
Post a Comment