Josh Trank has already been through a protracted studio battle with 20th Century Fox (for Fantastic Four), so one might imagine that bad movie reviews might not feel as jarring in comparison. That assumption would be correct, and Trank is ready to reckon with those Capone reviews while letting them roll off his back. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, he sifts through the aftermath of a less-than-impressive VOD take ($2.5 million held up to a $20 million budget) and is simply happy that people are having strong reactions.
The film, which sits at 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, led our own Vince Mancini to declare, “Context is not the enemy.” Notably, there’s a scene where Tom Hardy, as the post-prison Al Capone, defecates in his own pants. But Trank is “very happy with the outcome,” because some viewers love what other viewers hate. Trank continued:
“That’s perfectly fine because everything in this movie is up front and center for you to see. Nothing is being hidden. It’s right there. But I’m glad that what people are reacting to are the most extreme elements of the movie. It’s getting a reaction. If you hate this movie, that’s perfectly fine because you’re reacting to something that’s pretty real.”
As long as people are paying attention, in other words, that’s better than being ignored, according to Trank. It’s not a new idea by any means, but it does seem useful right now when movies are struggling in the face of pandemic chaos. One might argue, though, that movies like Capone are much better off heading to streaming services than, as Vertical Entertainment did, forging out to VOD-land unattended. With The Last Days Of American Crime earning 0% positive reviews but still sitting atop the Netflix charts, there’s certainly an audience for terrible movies. 2020 isn’t getting any less weird.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)