"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word."
The Untouchables is a 1987 crime film Directed by Brian De Palma, and featuring a strong cast consisting of Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martian Smith, and Sean Connery. Speaking of Connery, he nabbed a Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor' for his role in the film, and in a movie with solid acting, a really good score, and top-notch cinematography, he still manages to steal every scene he's in.
The film takes place during Prohibition with Al Capone (played by Robert De Niro) running nearly the entire city of Chicago and, opposite him is a Treasury agent named Eliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner) who has sent to stop him. Ness soon builds a team consisting of a beat cop named Jimmy Malone (played by Connery), a rookie fresh out of the Police Academy named George Stone (played by Andy Garcia), and an accountant named Oscar Wallace (played by Charles Martian Smith).
Early on they successfully raid a Post office warehouse full liquor owned by Capone, who later kills the henchman in charge of the warehouse with a baseball bat as a warning to the other top men working for him. After that initial raid, Wallace discovers that Capone has not filed an income tax return for several years and suggests that Ness try to build a tax evasion case against him, as they likely won't be able to directly tie him to any other crimes. It isn't long before Malone learns of an incoming liquor shipment and, seeing an opportunity to hurt Capone again, the team heads to the U.S.- Canadian border to intercept it. After a shootout with some of Capone's men, they convince a bookkeeper to testify against Capone. But, once they arrive back in Chicago, one of Capone's henchmen kills the informant, as well as, Wallace.
After realizing that it was the police chief who tipped of Capone, Malone forces him to reveal the whereabouts of Capone's top bookkeeper, Walter Payne. The stakes are further raised that night, when Malone is shot by the same guy who killed Wallace. Luckily, before he dies Malone is able to tell Ness which train Payne will take out of town. Later, at the train station, Ness and Stone find Payne being escorted by several gangsters. Then, a gunfight breaks out resulting in arguably the best scene in the entire film and when all is said and done all of the henchmen have been killed and Payne is taken alive.
Payne then testifies at Capone's trial, Ness kills the guy who killed Malone, and Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison. The film ends with a reporter asking Ness what he'll do if Prohibition is repealed, and he replies, "I think I'll have a drink."
Overall, this one is really entertaining from the opening scene to the very end. For me, everything in this movie just clicks, it's up there with some of my favorite movies about organized crime and I highly recommend it. I give it a 5 out of 5.
Have a suggestion for a review?
Leave it in the comments below.
...and don't forget to check out my '10 Sean Connery Movies Everyone Should See' list by clicking here.
Early on they successfully raid a Post office warehouse full liquor owned by Capone, who later kills the henchman in charge of the warehouse with a baseball bat as a warning to the other top men working for him. After that initial raid, Wallace discovers that Capone has not filed an income tax return for several years and suggests that Ness try to build a tax evasion case against him, as they likely won't be able to directly tie him to any other crimes. It isn't long before Malone learns of an incoming liquor shipment and, seeing an opportunity to hurt Capone again, the team heads to the U.S.- Canadian border to intercept it. After a shootout with some of Capone's men, they convince a bookkeeper to testify against Capone. But, once they arrive back in Chicago, one of Capone's henchmen kills the informant, as well as, Wallace.
After realizing that it was the police chief who tipped of Capone, Malone forces him to reveal the whereabouts of Capone's top bookkeeper, Walter Payne. The stakes are further raised that night, when Malone is shot by the same guy who killed Wallace. Luckily, before he dies Malone is able to tell Ness which train Payne will take out of town. Later, at the train station, Ness and Stone find Payne being escorted by several gangsters. Then, a gunfight breaks out resulting in arguably the best scene in the entire film and when all is said and done all of the henchmen have been killed and Payne is taken alive.
Payne then testifies at Capone's trial, Ness kills the guy who killed Malone, and Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison. The film ends with a reporter asking Ness what he'll do if Prohibition is repealed, and he replies, "I think I'll have a drink."
Overall, this one is really entertaining from the opening scene to the very end. For me, everything in this movie just clicks, it's up there with some of my favorite movies about organized crime and I highly recommend it. I give it a 5 out of 5.
Have a suggestion for a review?
Leave it in the comments below.
...and don't forget to check out my '10 Sean Connery Movies Everyone Should See' list by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment