The Untouchables

THE UNTOUCHABLES (15)

D: Brian DePalma

Paramount (Art Linson)

US 1987

119 mins

Crime/Drama

W: David Mamet [based on the book by Eliot Ness & Oscar Fraley]

DP: Stephen H. Burum

Ed: Jerry Greenberg & Bill Pankow

Mus: Ennio Morricone

PD: Patrizia Von Brandenstein

Cos: Marilyn Vance

Kevin Costner (Eliot Ness), Sean Connery (James Malone), Charles Martin Smith (Oscar Wallace), Andy Garcia (George Stone), Robert DeNiro (Al Capone), Richard Bradford (Mike), Jack Kehoe (Walter Payne), Brad Sullivan (George), Billy Drago (Frank Nitti)

Based on a 1950's TV serial and written by David Mamet, The Untouchables gives a fictional account of FBI agent Eliot Ness putting together a hand-picked team of incorruptible lawmen to bring down Al Capone and his criminal empire.

Though it takes liberties with facts (in real life Capone & Ness never met) it presents a dramatic and thrilling recreation of events with some great performances from it's ensemble cast. Kevin Costner gives one of his best performances as Ness (before his career was virtually ruined after a string of poor choices), while Robert DeNiro is perfectly cast as Al Capone. Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and an Oscar-winning turn from Sean Connery complete the elite team, and though Connery won all the plaudits for his portrayal as Irish cop Jimmy Malone, the film's unsung heroes are the production designers who perfectly captured 1930's Chicago & composer Ennio Morricone, delivering one of his most famous movie themes.

The film also pays tribute to cinema classic Battleship Potemkin and it's iconic Odessa Steps sequence with the nail-biting shootout at a train station, a scene which has often been parodied since the film's 1987 release.

8/10