A classic crime thriller

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2001)

The story is one of legend: Al Capone prohibition era reign is brought down by crusading Treasury agent Elliot Ness. What makes this better than any other version? Many factors. Firstly the director is one of the greats (when he's on target). De Palma has his weaknesses but he is technically proficient and excellent at creating tension in set pieces. Here he creates a spirit of adventure in the character of Ness but also delivers several very tense scenes where the action is slowly built up to.
Secondly the story is strong enough to keep the interest throughout - you know the story but the style of telling is slick and the characters draw you in. It is a fascinating tale of the times, even when it has been fictionalised like this.
The main factor looking back is the strength of the cast from top to bottom. Costner (before his career imploded) is excellent as Ness, the righteous man pushed over the limits of his morality in his quest to do right, and shows the internal struggle going on inside well. De Niro enjoys himself as the unpredictable Capone and many of his scenes here have become part of everyone's knowledge (the baseball bat!). Garcia and Martin Smith do well in support while Connery is strong as Jim Malone, the Irish (!) beat cop who becomes Ness's mentor. I'm not sure the Oscar was totally deserved but it's still a good performance.