# Untouchables, The (1987)

### reviewed by
Ryan Davis

    Classic Review: Untouchables, The (1987)
    9/02/98

To look back at a movie after ten or so years and see how it looks then. That is a sign of true greatness. The best of movies are the ones remember, or talked about after 10, 20, 30, 40, or even 50 or more years. I believe that "The Untouchables" will be one of the movies that last at least 30 years, maybe more. Cause as of now, it's aged like wine.

Many would stand here and praise Brian De Palma, the director, for it's place in film history. I won't. Sure, De Palma has done movies considered great, for instance: Scarface and Carlito's Way. But in his greatest films he has only functioned as director, never writer. And this pattern stays true in "The Untouchables", which was written for the screen by David Mamet (Wag The Dog).

The story involves the legendary bootlegger, Al Copone(Robert De Niro). Al runs the city with his violent and explosive methods. Eliot Ness(Kevin Costner) wants to stop Capone and put an end to his organization. Problem is, Capone has people everywhere, and his conspirators are far reaching. Eliot, not being able to trust his own army of men, turns to three other men that have not been coerced by Capone. The group includes a trio of fine actors: Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, and the lesser known Charles Martin Smith. The rest of the story involves Eliot & Companies struggler to beat Copone, not matter what they risk even their lives or their families.

All the performances are great. And who else better to play Copone than Bobby De Niro? Connery turns in a great performance as the older mentor, which won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

De Palma's direction is fine, and he has several great scenes. Including, a gun fight scene that takes place in slow-motion, and involves a falling baby carriage. Its sad to see how he has deteriorated with his latest "Snake Eyes", in which he feels the need to be ultra stylish and just forget about the story. The story is really what makes this movie so strong, and "Snake Eyes" so weak.

All and all a great film. And one that if you haven't seen yet, you better check out.

    Grade: A

    -------------------
    Ryan Davis
    rjdavis@ezy.net

-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==----- http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews