The Untouchables Movie Review 1987

Big-budget, fast-paced, and exciting re-evaluation of the popular TV series about the real-life battle between Treasury officer Eliot Ness (Costner) and crime boss Al Capone (De Niro) in 1920s' Chicago. History sometimes takes a back seat to Hollywood's imagination in the screenplay, but it doesn't really matter since there are splendid performances by De Niro and Connery as Ness' mentor Jimmy Malone to help it look realistic. Costner does a fine job showing the change in Ness from naive idealism to steely conviction. Beautifully filmed with excellent special effects. Note DePalma's long train station/baby carriage scene that's an homage to the 1925 silent Russian classic, "Battleship Potemkin."

Distribution

Baker & Taylor Inc., 2709 Water Ridge Pkwy., Ste. 500, Charlotte, NC 28217, Phone: (704)357-3500, Toll-free: 800-775-1800, Email: btinfo@btol.com, URL: http://www.btol.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 119 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Crime Drama, FBI, Organized Crime, Period Piece: 1920s, Top Grossing Films of 1987, Team Efforts, Adapted from Television, True Crime, Chicago, Elevators, Bloody Messages, Unhappy Meals

Screenplay

David Mamet

Cast

Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago, Richard Bradford, Jack Kehoe

Cinematography

Stephen Burum

Director

Brian DePalma

Music

Ennio Morricone

Producer

Paramount Pictures

Awards

Oscars 1987: Support. Actor (Connery); Golden Globes 1988: Support. Actor (Connery); Natl. Bd. of Review 1987: Support. Actor (Connery).