The Untouchables (1987)
Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro; d. Brian DePalma; B+

It may seem to you that I'm forever on the quest for a meaningful film. Being the art fart that I am, that's fairly accurate. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to be entertained. Sometimes, there's nothing more pleasing than kicking back on my couch and watching an entertaining, stupid Hollywood flick. And this exactly what Brian DePalma's The Untouchables is, a harmless, often mindless, entertaining Hollywood flick that doesn't try to lug around more weight than it can carry.

The Untouchables takes place during Prohibtion-era Chicago, when many people, especially those in the Mafia, were making serious money off of bootlegging alcohol. None of these people were more notorious than Al Capone, played in this film by the untouchable Robert De Niro. But, disregard Mr. Capone, for the true focus of this film is the real-life group of Treasury agents who used forceful methods to stomp down on bootlegging, even though this version might be a bit more fiction than truth (and by the looks of it, it is fictional). The group begins as one, a naive, good-spirited, strong-willed Treasury agent named Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), who flubs his first attempt at a sting raid. That same night, he runs into a tough but wise Irish cop named Jim Malone (Sean Connery), who gives Ness some advice on a successful method to get Al Capone. The next day, a defeted and embarassed Ness seeks out Malone at his home and asks for more advice on how to smash Capone. Malone suggests that Ness's methods are too soft, considering the fact that they're dealing with ruthless killers, and that he should enforce more brutal and direct tactics in order to defeate Capone. Malone then comes up with the idea that he and Ness should form an enforcement group to help them. He takes Ness to a firing range in a cadet school, where they encounter and recruit a cool (as in reserved) sharp-shooter named Giuseppe Petri (Andy Garcia), who goes by the alias of George Stone. Finally, Ness's nerdy acounting assistant, Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), is handed a gun and asked to come with the small malitia which will soon be called "the untouchables." Their brash, direct methods on stomping out bootlegging prove to be successful at the start, but they soon learn that Al Capone is not an easy man to shake off. However, even when the squad is reduce to a measily two members, Ness and his group are still persistant in their mission to stomp down on Capone and anyone else who disobeys the Prohibtion laws. And, of course, they win.

So it is predictable. So it is corny. So it does get extrealmy saccarine. Surprisingly, though, it's actually a superbly entertainging film, despite what may be looked apon as flaws. The message of this film is obvious: Good triumps over evil. And the way they convey that messege is as obvious as the mole on Robert De Niro's face. The film is basically nothing more than your adverage, run of the mill Disney flick, but as I said, it works. The film doesn't try to convey itself as being something more than what it was, as a lavishly produced, high-action Hollywood thriller. There was no excessive, "introspective" baggage that could weigh a truly entertaining film down. Looking at DePalma's Scarface, it seems that he can't juggle meaning and entertainment (like his hero, Hitchcock, could), anyway. It also helps that this time, DePalma actually did have a great film score composer to lean on, Ennio Morricone. The score to The Untouchables is certianly a memorable one. It certainly was nice and enjoyable to google at the beautiful, elaborate sets, bite my nails during the climatic shoot out (supposedly a nod to some film I haven't seen yet), and root for the good guy, no matter how NutraSweet they might be. The fact that the film was more fantasy than reality didn't bother me much, even though I would have loved to know what really happened. But in this case, who really cares? It was a blast seeing Ness and his crew ambush a bunch of flamboyantly-dressed gangsters in fur coats on the US/Canadian border.

Obviously this isn't a film to talk about brilliant performances. Kevin Costner's performance would be looked apon as bad in any other films, but his brand of one-note acting is welcome in this place. Sean Connery is, well, Sean Connery. Likewise, there isn't much to say about Andy Garcia besides the fact that he played the passive sharp shooter to a T. And, as usual, the best performance comes from De Niro as Al Capone. Ignore the fact that he was only in the movie for what probably equals the amount of time that the boxing scenes took up in Raging Bull, maybe shorter. What I really admire about him is that he never seems to be uncomfortable in a role, and that confidence really helped here. Al Capone serves no true service in this film besides to be your typical bad guy. De Niro plays his role with such confident, rhythmical beauty that you can't help but be enchanted by his great screen presence. He is one of the major reason why this film works so well, because of that confidence. If he hadn't been as comfortable as he was playing the typical, Disney bad guy, then the whole balance of the film would have faltered.

Would I reccomend this film? Of course. But don't expect it to be a meaningful, battle of the wits, gangster vs. cop, like the original Cape Fear meets The Godfather Part II. It's just a simply, Hollywood entertainment ride, and it's best if you just sit back and enjoy the ride instead of trying to analyize it to death.

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2001