The Untouchables
| Year: | 1987 |
| Studio: | Paramount |
| Director: | Brian De Palma |
| Producer: | Art Linson |
| Writer: | David Mamet/Eliot Ness |
| Cast: | Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Billy Drago, Patricia Clarkson |
If I'd written this review 10 or even 20 years ago, I would have described one of the great gangster movies of modern times. What a huge shock then for it to fall down so badly upon a second viewing recently. clichéd dialogue, unrealistic motivations and hammy relationships string together this showcase of the cream of Hollywood's late 80s acting royalty.
Even Robert De Niro (going serious method to play crime lord Al Capone to the extent of wearing the same silk underwear) has a mere few throwaway scenes where he does little but bluster and grandstand.
Two aspects are still brilliant – the technically and creatively unsurpassed train station stairway shootout, and the period attention to detail. But everything else in this loose adaptation of the old TV show depicting how crusading, incorruptible Treasury agent Eliot Ness bought down Prohibition-era Chicago's most feared gangsters is fairly juvenile.
Even Robert De Niro (going serious method to play crime lord Al Capone to the extent of wearing the same silk underwear) has a mere few throwaway scenes where he does little but bluster and grandstand.
Two aspects are still brilliant – the technically and creatively unsurpassed train station stairway shootout, and the period attention to detail. But everything else in this loose adaptation of the old TV show depicting how crusading, incorruptible Treasury agent Eliot Ness bought down Prohibition-era Chicago's most feared gangsters is fairly juvenile.