Powerful Gangster Drama!

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2007)

"The Untouchables" is arguably Director Brian De Palma's greatest film. He managed to assemble a top drawer cast to tell his story of Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and The Untouchables quest to stem crime in Chicago during prohibition and bring down crime kingpin Al Capone (Robert De Niro).
Eliot Ness is appointed by the FBI to coordinate efforts to stop the corruption and crime in 1930 Chicago. His first raid is a disaster, the crooks having been warned by corrupt police officials led by Police Chief Mike Dorsett (Richard Bradford). Ness despondent over his failure has a chance meeting with honest cop Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) and asks him to join him. Reluctant at first, Malone eventually decides to join Ness' crusade. FBI accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) is assigned to Ness and discovers that Capone hasn't paid any income taxes for several years. Rounding out the team is gung ho police rookie George Stone (Andy Garcia).
When Ness refuses a bribe form a city alderman, the alderman gives the group it's name, "The Untouchables". The group begins to raid known liquor warehouses with great success. Capone meanwhile, disciplines one of his men with a baseball bat. The boys, with the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) foil the smuggling of bootleg liquor across the border. Malone's "questioning" of one of the crooks is memorable.
Capone now begins to take Ness seriously and orders him killed. Wallace is gunned down while transporting a prisoner. Malone learns that Capone's accountant, who has all of the names and places of public officials on the take, will be leaving town by train. In one of the film's most memorable sequences, Ness goes after the bookkeeper. As the shooting begins, a baby carriage with a baby inside begins to roll down a steep staircase and....................................
Although Kevin Costner made a convincing Eliot Ness, he was up against some powerful performances. Connery literally steals the picture as the honest Irish cop. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his efforts. De Niro eats up the screen as Capone ans Charles Martin Smith is excellent as the accountant turned G-Man. Andy Garcia was just emerging as a major player and holds his own with this high level talent.
At the border crossing sequence, Ness refers to the leader of the Mounties as "Captain". I would be remiss, if I didn't mention the fact that there are NO Captains in the RCMP (there's called Inspectors) and they don't all speak with Englisg accents....and they DO have police cars.
One of the all time great gangster pictures.