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The second
review in my look at Brian De Palma is the 1987 action/drama THE
UNTOUCHABLES.
It is the
time of Prohibition, the time of Al Capone. Eliot Ness (Kevin
Costner), along with Jim Malone (Sean
Connery), Agent George Stone (Andy Garcia) and Agent Oscar Wallace
(Charles Martin Smith) are going to do whatever it takes to bring Capone
(Robert DeNiro) down.
I remember
seeing this movie when I was younger on cable, and it left an impression
on me. At that age (13) it had everything a kid could ask for, guns,
blood, and sharp dressed men. Who wouldn’t want to be a gangster? After
viewing it again at the age of 32, it lacks something. I can’t quite put
my finger on it, but this film needed some small thing to make it great.
I know that as a reviewer I should be able to point out whatever it is,
but being a favorite movie from my childhood has skewed my judgment.
The acting
was good, Connery’s accent not withstanding. The pacing of the plot was
fine. The action was dramatic and not over done. It seems to me that
DePalma likes to use slow motion to heighten the tension in his
climactic scenes. I have noticed this in this film and
FEMME FATALE. Is this a De Palma
trademark?
Kevin
Costner plays Ness as the most straight-laced Treasury Agent I have ever
seen. Even his wife thinks so, at one point she jokes about naming their
son J. Edgar. He is almost the personification of the Law. Speaking in
complete, carefully enunciated and precise sentences, he does everything
by the book. Until he recruits Sean Connery’s slang speaking, butt
kicking Irish beat cop. Connery has the right attitude, but his accent
keeps switching from the Irish it’s supposed to be and the Scottish that
is his real accent. Andy Garcia plays his straight out of the Academy
Italian sharpshooter pretty close to the vest. He’s good at shooting and
he wants to be a cop. That’s about all there is to him. DeNiro, what can
you say about him. He is the man in almost everything he chooses to do.
One minute he is a seemingly respectable business man and in the next,
he’s bashing a guy’s head in with a baseball bat.
The picture
was pretty good but the sound left something to be desired. Not the
sound mix but the effects themselves. A lot of the gunshots were poorly
edited in and there was quite a bit of bad dubbing. The music was
perfect. Swanky with a little feel of 80’s thrown in. If that main title
doesn’t get you excited then nothing in this movie will.
Even though
it’s missing something, I still enjoyed this almost as much as I did as
a kid. So far I think DePalma is doing a pretty good job at keeping me
entertained. If you like gangster films, give this one a shot. I even
heard a rumor that there are plans for a prequel.
There are
even more great lines in this movie than what I have picked out. I just
picked some of my favorites.
Until
Geraldo get’s a crack at another safe,
keep
reading.
Mitch
Emerson
Best Lines:
Capone:
I want you to get this f**k where he breathes! I want you to find this
nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want
his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the
night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!
Malone:
Stone. George Stone. That's your name? What's your real name?
George
Stone: That is my real name.
Malone:
Nah. What was it before you changed it?
George
Stone: Giuseppe Petri.
Malone:
Ah, I knew it. That's all you need, one thieving wop on the team.
George
Stone: Hey, what's that you say?
Malone:
I said that you're a lying member of a no good race.
George
Stone: Much better than you, you stinking Irish pig.
Malone:
Oh, I like him.
Ness:
How do you do it then?
Malone:
You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a
gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital; you send one of his to the
morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do
you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?
Ness:
I have sworn to capture this man with all legal powers at my disposal
and I will do so.
Malone:
Well, the Lord hates a coward. Do you know what a blood oath is Mr.
Ness?
Ness:
Yes.
Malone:
Good, 'cause you just took one.
Reporter: Word is they're going to repeal Prohibition. What'll you
do then?
Ness:
I think I'll have a drink.
Frank
Nitti: I said your friend died screaming like a stuck Irish pig. Now
you think about that when I beat the rap.
[Ness,
enraged, grabs Nitti and throws him off the building ledge. Nitti wails
as he falls]
Ness:
Did it sound anything like THAT?
Ness:
I have foresworn myself. I have broken every law I have sworn to uphold,
I have become what I beheld and I am content that I have done right!
Mountie:
I do not approve of your methods!
Ness:
Yeah, well... You're not from Chicago.
Malone:
[to Ness] Welcome to Chicago.
Malone:
This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.
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