The Untouchables

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The Untouchables ★★★½ 1987 (R)

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.” 119m/C VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD . Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago, Richard Bradford, Jack Kehoe; D: Brian De Palma; W: David Mamet; C: Stephen Burum; M: Ennio Morricone. Oscars ‘87: Support. Actor (Connery); Golden Globes ‘88: Support. Actor (Connery); Natl. Bd. of Review ‘87: Support. Actor (Connery).

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