What's the real life story behind the second son Tom Hardy's character has in Fantastic Four), Capone recently became available for home viewing after the coronavirus pandemic scuppered theatrical releases for the majority of 2020. Starring Tom Hardy in the title role, Capone finds the titular gangster at the end of his life, released from prison due to ailing health, and takes a subversive, offbeat and unflinching look at the final year of a man who once reigned over an entire city on his way to cementing Hollywood's stereotypical depiction of the American mob.
Capone was a highly anticipated release, and not just because hardly any other films are coming out right now. The prospect of Tom Hardy tackling one of the most infamous criminals in history after an impressive performance as both Kray twins in disappointing Fantastic Four effort. Unfortunately, those lofty expectations have been dashed, and Capone is attracting a mixture of responses and reviews. The unusually impressionist tone, the defecating in bed and Tom Hardy's out-there performance as a man riddled with degenerative illness have all proven divisive.
Broadly speaking, Capone is based on the true final year of Al's life. The neurosyphilis, Florida retirement and FBI monitoring all come from reality but, predictably, Trank does also take some liberties with the truth for artistic and storytelling purposes, and one of these is the introduction of a second, illegitimate son.
The Second Son In Capone
Tom Hardy's Al Capone already has one son by his loyal wife Mae, and this character is portrayed by Noel Fisher in Trank's film. Referred to as Junior, Al and Mae's son stays by his father's side during his gradual downfall and attempts to interact with Capone, while still being concerned about his increasingly fragile state. Despite largely appearing as the doting son (or perhaps because of it), Junior is clearly hurt when Al begins mentioning his other child.
The first sense the audience get of Capone's estranged offspring comes very early in the film when Hardy's character sees a young boy staring at him in the garden. Throughout the movie, Capone sees visions of this same child holding a golden balloon and walking away from him, with Al desperately trying to catch up to the illusory figure. One scene even sees Capone have an imaginary conversation with Matt Dillon's Johnny about the "other" kid. Back in the film's present, Capone's second son, Tony, is played by Mason Guccione when shown as an adult. Tony frequently calls Capone's Florida house from Cleveland but mostly stays silent on the line, and he's soon revealed to be working with the authorities who are looking to get a tighter grip on the former gangster and his well-hidden assets. After continuing to appear to Al in hallucinations, Tony finally makes the trip from Cleveland to visit his father in person.
In Capone's closing scene, Tony sits across from the now-silent gangster and gently rests his hand upon his father's, although the title character by this late stage in the story may be too far gone to realize.
Capone (Probably) Didn't Have Another Son In Real Life
Noel Fisher's character in Capone is based on the gangster's only documented real life child, Sonny, but his full name is Alphonse Albert Francis Capone Jr. and this is why the film refers to him as "Junior." Although Capone doesn't explore Sonny in great detail, Fisher's portrayal seems relatively accurate to what is known about Capone's son in reality - someone who didn't follow in his father's footsteps and instead pursued a mostly legitimate path. All evidence suggests Al loved his son dearly. Aside from Sonny, there is nothing definitive to suggest Al Capone fathered any other children, whether by his wife or someone else. But while Capone's Tony character is mostly Josh Trank exercising his artistic license, there is a grain of truth in the story.
Despite the strength of his relationship with Mae, various s suggest that Al Capone was unfaithful to his wife throughout their marriage, and with 1920s contraception not being what it is today, it's possible that an illegitimate son could've been fathered. Indeed, there have been several individuals over the years claiming to be fathered by a play-away Capone and Trank has stated that he feels the existence of a second son was distinctly possible for a man in Al Capone's position. One of the most famous examples is that of Christopher Knight, who has repeatedly claimed his father William was a secret child of Al Capone. Despite attaining a certain amount of notoriety, Knight's claims have never been proven, and legally changing his name to "Christopher Knight Capone" perhaps gives some insight as to the man's motivations.
Although Tony is a fictional character in Capone, Trank does try to base his existence somewhat in reality. The film makes clear that Capone's forgotten son is called from Cleveland, Ohio and Capone and his men were known to frequent hotels in that city as a means of escaping Chicago. If Capone is working on the basis that Al's lifestyle might've involved an illegitimate son, Cleveland is a logical guess as to where that child might've been conceived.
Why The Capone Movie Adds An Estranged Son
In of questionable creative choices, Capone certainly makes a few. From the deliberately downbeat tone and strange dream sequences to the aforementioned bed messing and carrot chomping, it's hard not to feel like many of Capone's most hotly discussed moments were designed for shock value, or to be deliberately subversive. However, the addition of Tony as Al's long-lost son is neither of these things, so why was the character written into the movie?
In many, ways the Tony character isn't really about Tony at all, but Al himself, and this is why the audience learn very little about the mysterious caller from Cleveland. Capone isn't just about a man battling against neurosyphilis, it's also about one of the world's most notorious criminals battling with the person he used to be. Capone places minimal focus on the violence and gangster elements of its subject's life - there are only brief allusions to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, a flashback to a brutal murder and a party with Louis Armstrong during Al Capone's time at the head of the Chicago mob. So how does Capone physically represent all of the regret and baggage Tom Hardy's character feels without copious gangster flashbacks or grotesque images of bullet-ridden corpses? Tony is the solution.
Although Al Capone didn't really had a son he never acknowledged, Trank's fictionalized version is haunted by visions of the child he left behind - a symbol of his infamous past lifestyle. Capone's story is not one of a touching reunion between father and son, it's an exploration of a deeply ill man coming to with his misdeeds before succumbing to death. So when Tony and Capone finally connect (in a manner of speaking) during the final scene, this moment finally gives Al peace, because if Tony can forgive him, he can perhaps forgive himself. Although the mobster's death is not shown on screen, Capone heavily implies that the end was not too far away by the time Tony arrived and the discovery of forgiveness is the film's final chapter, rather than the moment Al Capone actually dies.
