The Untouchables

Starring: Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
1987

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Awards:Academy Awards 1987: Best Supporting Actor (Sean Connery)
The Movie Files Movie Championship I: Sweet Sixteen


Summary:Treasury Agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) forms a band of cops in Chicago (Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia)to battle gangster Al Capone (Robert De Niro). They claim to be unable to be bought off, and are given the name, "The Untouchables"

Review:

Tim: This is a classic mob movie. I thought it was a decent film. I'm not a huge mob movie fan, so if you are, you'll probably like this film a little more than I did.

In saying that, I should say that I did like this movie. It was well done, has a good cast, and pretty much throughout the film is a smart, exciting mob movie. Kevin Costner does a very good job, and I've always been a fan of him, so it was enjoyable seeing him in this type of role. Sean Connery, one of my favorite actors of all time, is excellent as Malone. Costner and Connery are great together, and very enjoyable to watch. Connery won an Oscar for his performace. While I definitely think the performance was Oscar-worthy, I was a little surprised he won. Regardless, he does a hell of a job. Andy Garcia also gives a very good performance. I wasn't too impressed with Robert De Niro in this role. I've seen him in much better roles, and he's had better performances. While he does have his moments, oftentimes I just couldn't believe him to be Capone.

That seemed to be the major flaw of this film. Maybe it was just me, but I could not get into the movie hardly at all. I kept thinking the film was silly, surprised as several unbelievable scenes (the one on horseback is the worst), and very, very unbelievable. Now, don't get me wrong, the film was mostly believable- in some gruesome scenes, a little too reality-like. There were just several scenes I couldn't bring myself to enjoy.

Like I said, if you're a mob movie buff, then you definitely have to check this film out. It does give a fairly good portayal of the Chicago mob and the police that battled them. The film has some very memorable scenes, and Costner's rooftop scene at the end is superb. The scenes are magnificent, as you'll really feel as if you're in downtown Chicago in the 1930's. If I was rating only mob movies, this film would have done much better, but in the whole grand scheme of movies, it does only a little better than mediocre. If I had to sum this film up in a sentence, I'd say, "A decent mob movie, with several bright spots throughout."

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Godfather, Field of Dreams, Finding Forrester, Internal Affairs, Meet the Parents,