The Untouchables (1987): Federal Agent Elliot Ness sets out to take out Al Capone; because of rampant corruption, he assembles a small, hand-picked team.
The event depicted in this movie are loosely based on historical facts, but there are so many dramatic licenses that most of the characters are fictional.
Kevin Costner gives a fine performance as Elliott Ness, I especially liked his reaction to the mother of the girl who died in an explosion. You could feel the weight of responsibility that woman put on him.
However Sean Connery steals the movie as Malone, an older cop recruited by Ness. I really liked his introduction, at first he looked like a normal cop on the beat, but he turned out to be really smart and also charming/funny. He was great when Malone recruited Stone (Andy Garcia).
Robert DeNiro had a small role as Al Capone, but he managed to make Capone funny, charming and scary. The Oscar Wallace character (Charles Martin Smith) was a bit of a comedy release, which worked. However I had a bit of difficulty accepting him being part of the “Untouchables”.
The action was very 80’s, which was both good and bad. The bad is overacting, especially when people are shot on screen. That’s just too dramatic and I was a little bit bothered by it. However I did like the action scene in the train station. It took its time before the action started, but when it did it only took a few seconds. On screen it was shown in slow motion, which was needed because a lot happened in those few seconds.
I wasn’t too fond of the last chase scene, nor the trial scenes. It felt too quick and unrealistic. The judge switching the juries probably works on the moment, but you think about it for a second it doesn’t make much sense, because the trial was well underway, and they would have to present the evidence again to the new jury.
This is a nice action/drama movie, with a great performance by Sean Connery. There are many flaws in it but I enjoyed it on an entertainment level.
Rating: 3 Stars