Untouchables rivals with The Godfather

Rating: 8/10 (5 April 2014)

It's the 1930's. Prohibition is affecting the nation. But, in the Windy City, there's a war waging. A war between the good guys and the bad guys. A war between the cops and the gangsters. A war between Elliot Ness and Al Capone.
Brian De Palma's The Untouchables is a film that tells us that story and tells it very well, indeed. In the 1930's, Prohibition was affecting everyone. Businesses had to be shaken down by the law for illegal booze and drinks. Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is the main character and leader of a squad of police officers who called themselves, The Untouchables. Ness and a fellow Irish cop, Jimmy Malone, (Sean Connery) enlisted Italian-American policeman George Stone (Andy Garcia) in the group along with accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith). Together, their main objective is to bring down the big man who runs all of the illegal business in the streets of Chicago. And that name is Al Capone (Robert De Niro). After cracking down on illegal booze operations and successfully cutting off Capone's gangsters in Canada, the Untouchables gain popularity. Later on however, several members of the group are being killed off by Capone's right-hand man. It's up to Ness to go against Capone's right-hand man and also Capone.
The film has a real sense of authenticity to the period era. De Palma has all of the right ingredients to make this picture works. From the cars to the guns to the clothes. The art direction is very well done and achieves the actual historic setting of the 1930's. What De Palma does in this film and his earlier gangster film, Scarface, is that he brings us into a glamorous world of the gangster life, but doesn't let the artistic details get in the way of the characters and the acting.
As for the performances, I admired the supporting casting of Sean Connery as Jimmy Malone. Connery did win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in this movie. Connery does a very good as portraying Malone as Ness' mentor. In one particular scene where Ness is at a church and meets Malone for the second time, he gives Ness a little piece of advice. "Shoot fast and shoot first." Together along with Garcia and Smith, their chemistry is the most interesting part in this movie. For De Niro, I felt that he gives a mediocre performance as Capone. In my opinion, I had a very hard time accepting him as Capone, since his appearance doesn't necessarily match with the real Capone. Kevin Costner does a good job portraying a very young Elliot Ness. This young Ness is very different than Robert Stack's portrayal of Ness in the older version of the TV series.
Even though The Untouchables is based on a true story and that it achieves on both style and authenticity, it is actually a fictionalized account on Ness and Capone. But, I think the reason why this movie is entertaining is that it's wonderful and great to look at and that we, as the audience can enjoy what is being done between both men who come from opposite sides of the law. I believe that this film rivals up there with The Godfather. What I mean by that comparison is that the two films presents us a glamorous look and feeling of the gangster world. It is lively and very colorful to look at, yet the characters are wrapped in their own situations where they have to deal with certain people in order to get the job done. In this case, The Untouchables is ambitious, yet it is not longer than Scarface.
The Untouchables is a very good gangster film, both well directed and well art-directed. It's style and substance drives the energy toward the film, creating a sense of motion and ambition. The chemistry between Costner and Connery works and also it works for the members as well. Brian De Palma made a very modern version of the TV series and it's his best work since Scarface. ★★★ 1/2 3 1/2 stars.