The Untouchables (1987)

What 'The Untouchables (1987)' does better than most pictures of the kind and time is deliver the goods when it comes to genuinely tense, suspenseful and eventually explosive action set-pieces, especially when it comes to balancing its build-ups with its pay-offs and the way in which its gritty, somewhat unrelenting bloodshed usually has tangible and lasting consequences for its characters and world. The film starts to lose its way a bit when it comes to the stuff in between, however, as a generally slow pace and slightly repetitive second act arise from the slightly subpar seeming plot. It doesn't really keep you as engaged as it perhaps should and ultimately struggles to find a balance between brash brass-tracks action and subtly political crime-drama. There's still a lot to like and admire, though, even during the moments that fail to live up to the flick's otherwise proven heights. 6/10

If you like Kevin Costner films then perhaps this one is for you. I found the film very boring with long pauses of the camera on Kevin's face with terrible music in the background. Even Sean Connery couldn't save the film, although at least it was somewhat interesting when he was in a scene. I thought De Niro gave a poor caricature of Capone, it seemed stiff. Why it is rated 7.9 I cannot understand.

The UntouchablesThere are some nail biting sequences created that leaves you with an awe but for the rest of the feature the character link and the world portrayed is weak contrary to its premise. Brian De Palma chews off too much for his characters that sometimes comes off as a bit slow and downer for the audience especially when the script is wafer thin. Kevin Costner; as the protagonist is convincing but the real game changers are the supporting cast i.e. Sean Connery and Robert De Niro. The Untouchables; being of course a character driven feature, doesn't seek attention especially in its first half that is barely standing on any grounds and is fortunately saved by the second half where things get brutal, up close and personal offering the perfect amount of drama that was essential all along.

Right from the start Costner annoyed me in the Role as Elliot. He seemed like a bland and boring good cop, and never really came through - what a boring little family he had. The whole build up with the "lets gather a bunch of of misfits and throw them into action" was beautiful and entertaining for five minutes, then it just became obviously manipulative from a plot perspective. Many of the scenes seemed weirdly empty, like something was wrong in the world building process. Not enough smoke, not enough rain and dirt, not enough people! Everything was very set-piecy which fit the overly clichéd cinematography though.One of the things that annoyed me the most was the "folksy" - "good old timey whimey" lets a have big ol' shootout with music so overly dramatic and hollywoodesque your ears almost fell of. Also you grew increasingly tired with the weird mix of violence, and fun-for-the-whole-family atmosphere. Which leads me to the main problem: While Scarface and Carlitos Way had some kind of nihilistic and grotesque humor in the depiction of the coke era, and made no effort to make anything PG13, this movie didn't really seem sure of what it was doing. Everything seemed to clean cut, to polished and without nerve and humor. Which weirdly enough made this movie come of as being lot more sociopathic in its utilisation of violence. Because when violence is used in tandem with the Hollywood clichés the whole thing reeks of money grubbing producers and not willful directors. Give me more nuance, more grit, or at least some warmth from unexpected characters. Scorcese did it better. Palmas other movies did it better.