Great popcorn entertainment

Rating: Null/10 (19 April 2002)

The Untouchables dosen't have any pretentions. It knows it's a popcorn film and plays to its strengths superbly. Of course it dosen't hurt that it has an intelligent, witty script, a superb director and a top quality cast, but all of these things would amount to nothing if it didn't come together. I can safely say though, that they do and combine to create a great film.
One of the film's most obvious strengths is it's narrative drive. It's simply unrelenting. Great scene follows great scene and several top notch action sequences pepper the film. As you'd expect from DePalma, he handles these with flair and injects real pathos into the film.
The performances too are fantastic. Sean Connery gets all the best lines and displays his natural charisma, DeNiro gets to menace people with his inherent intensity, Billy Drago dosen't get to say much but says everything he needs to with his eyes and Kevin Costner's bland drawl suits his naive character perfectly. Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith aren't bad either.
A film like this also needs the right feel and I can't find any fault with the art direction, the costumes or the photography. It feels like the Thirties and not a collection of people dressed up playing gangsters. Lastly, I must acknowledge the great score by Ennio Morricone. It suits the film like an Armani suit and is certainly one of Morricone's best non Leone scores. His use of the harmonica was only bettered in Once Upon a Time in the West.
One to watch and watch again.