0
0
Rating: 4 out of 5
One of my favorite genres of film to watch is gangster films. I really enjoy those old-time gangster films. The likes of Scarface, Little Caesar, and even Public Enemy, where the dude straight up mushed a grapefruit on his girl’s face. Sooooooo Disrespectful. Side note, if you haven’t seen Public Enemy, starring James Cagney, definitely watch it. Like all gangster films, set during the 1930s, the “wonderful” Prohibition Era is going on. That time when it was illegal to sell alcohol. You tellin’ me NO booze? What is wrong with you, America?! This period was significant for the real straight up gangster characters. The icons of the era and Public Enemy #1. The likes of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, and Bugsy Siegel. You see now where many rappers get their names from. The era of the Tommy gun, three-piece suits, trench coats, and riding around in those boxcars were some of the highlights. Yet out of all of them, ONE man was the biggest gangster of them all. Al Capone. The American gangster with the nickname of Scarface and the boss of the Chicago Outfit. Capone was that larger than life figure. Capone is by far the most influential gangster ever and for film and television.
Directed by Brian De Palma while being written by David Mamet and De Palma. The Untouchables is a film that deals with the battle between the King of Chicago and a lawman who is sent to bring him down for good. Unlike other gangster films that show us the rise and fall of the criminal (i.e., Tony Montana in Scarface or Caesar Enrico “Rico” Bandello in Little Caesar). De Palma decides to show what happens on the other side of the law. How the police try to chase down their criminal and bring them to justice when it seems that the criminal has the world in the palm of their hand.
Treasury Agent Eliot Ness (Costner) has just arrived in the mean streets of Chicago. He has been given the go-ahead to set up a special unit and bring down the notorious Al Capone (De Niro). One can see that Ness is out of his element. He is definitely as Stephen A Smith would put it, “Wet behind the ears, breath smelling like Similac” agent. Ness soon learns that this assignment will be one of the hardest of his life. His very first liquor raid is a complete failure. Ness soon sees that many of the policemen in his building are informants for Capone. While contemplating his path, Ness has a chance meeting with veteran officer James Malone (Connery), who is fed up with the corruption. He offers to help Ness while suggesting that they find men who have yet been corrupted by Capone. Malone decides to go to the police academy, where they recruit academy cadet George Stone (Garcia). They also recruit Treasury Agent Oscar Wallace (Smith), who was sent from Washington to help with the investigation. Malone decides that they need to go on a liquor raid and throws the boys shotguns. The four make their way to the Post Office as Malone states that it’s the place where everyone knows where the booze is. The four manage to haul in a major liquor raid. The group is soon called, “The Untouchables” by the newspaper. With war declared on Capone, can the Untouchables live long enough to bring him to justice?
This film is quite different from the other mob movies. It seems to be shot differently, and maybe that is what De Palma intended to do. It has that mobster feel, but at the same time, it doesn’t. It’s not comparable to the Godfather. That will always be an all-time classic, but that had a mobster feel. You knew it was a mob movie. This one honestly feels like a cop movie. Yes, the mob has their moments in this film. In the beginning, when Capone’s best hitman blows up that bar with the little girl. That is a mob move, but after that, it’s a cop movie. Glorifying the men behind the badge and there is nothing wrong with that.
De Palma displays his cops as being on the right side of the law with being rough around the edges because they know they are at war with the most deadly criminal of them all. The two significant scenes are the ones where they go to Canada to stop a liquor shipment and capture one of Capone’s bookkeepers. The shootout on the bridge is quite intense. Blood and bodies everywhere. Where it gets genuinely insane is when Connery picks up the dead mobster and blows his brains out to get the bookkeeper to talk. That is one way to use a dead body in interrogation. It’s one of those scenes where you sit in your seat and go, “Hmmm, that was random, but I can see why they did that.” The other scene is in the train station. The iconic scene with the stroller and people getting shot all over the place. That one scene will have your heart pumping. It’s all about that stroller slowly falling down the steps.
Where this movie somewhat stands out is with the acting. Not sure if it was in a good way or a bad way. I guess the bad way was Costner. He seemed uninspiring and had an even tone throughout the movie. It seemed like he wanted to try overacting and be assertive, but it would come out wrong.
The two people that made the movie were Connery and De Niro. Connery is the fun one to watch. He played the mentor that had ZERO F**KS to give. He knew what it would take to get the job done and was willing to dive headfirst. He is like that grandfather that knows what to do because he has seen it all but just too old to do anything about it, so he shows how it is done for his younger grandson to take the reins. A far cry from his James Bond days, but he still has that James Bond charm.
De Niro, on the other hand, was my boy in this movie. With his screen time limited, he made the most of it. I don’t know how Capone was in real life, but De Niro’s version makes him look like a cocky, arrogant man who takes no mess from anyone. The baseball bat scene was quite crazy. De Niro is nothing like his Godfather character, but he shouldn’t be because this is a different man. What is great is when Capone finds out he lost his shipment. By far, one of the best and most overacted scenes in a gangster film. It had it all: the finger point, the overemphasis of the last word in the sentence, the anger and best of all the hand movements because he is so pissed. In Capone fashion, “I want him dead. I want his family dead. I want his house burned to the ground. I want to go there in the middle of the night, and I want to piss on the ashes.” All-time great quote right here.
The Untouchables is one of those films that is a good watch but not an all-time must watch. Showing things from a cop’s point of view is great, but it is more entertaining to see what the gangsters do. They have machine guns and seem to have more fun. Overall, take the time to watch Connery and De Niro do their work. Not the most excellent gangster film but one that has a decent entertainment value.
