Utterly Fictional Script Almost Works: A Guilty Pleasure

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 1999)

Brian DePalma will never have a "DePalmaesque" attached to the synopsis of any other film ever made.
The guy has made his entire living ripping off in his words, "paying homage to"] first Hitchcock, then Scorsese and finally Welles.
In this film he accomplishes all three ~ and more.
Yes, it's gripping from the start, but the script is utterly fictitious. More on that later.
Connery finally won his Oscar, and deservedly so, as the obstinate ex-Chicago cop mentoring the [again] miscast Costner.
And DeNiro's over-the-top-of-the-world perf as Al Capone works, and makes for many memorable scenes.
The cinematography is, as always, perfect ~ particularly in the epertly executed rip-off of Sergei Eisenstein's "Medusa Steps" sequence from the brilliant "Battleship Potemkin."
The ending is absurd, and total fiction.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
In the final climactic scene, Costner [as Ness] kills Frank Nitti during the trial of DeNiro's Capone.
Even the syndicated TV series from the '50s/'60s knew that Nitti succeeded Capone's throne while the latter was in prison ~ ie. he wasn't dead.
Still, this is a guilty pleasure of mine. And when it's on cable I tend to watch it again and again ~ even though I own it on VHS and DVD.
Andy Garcia's and Charles Martin Smith's early performances continue to surprise me with their depth.