The Untouchables
No one wins a war without blood on their hands. The Untouchables is a crime drama and action movie set in 1930, depicting the hot-blooded war on crime by U.S. Department of the Treasury special agent, Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) against his slippery and sinister nemesis, the infamous Al Capone (Robert DeNiro). As Ness struggles to gain ground in the largely corrupt Chicago Police Department, he encounters a savvy beat cop named Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) one night. Under Malone's guidance, Ness forms a small but tight-knit band of specialized law enforcement agents: The Untouchables.
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The Untouchables is a hard-boiled cops-and-gangsters movie set amid the turbulent Gangland Era of Chicago, which was fueled by the illegal smuggling of alcohol during Prohibition. It is based on the novel of the same name--written by the real Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley--which in turn was adapted into a television series from 1959 to 1963, also called "The Untouchables". Like Ness' group of experts and skilled warriors, The Untouchables is a collaborative effort by a diverse and capable team of creative artists. The music of Ennio Morricone grips you immediately as it plays over the bold opening credit. It is at once both tense and sly, evoking the image of an oily criminal or a snake, like Capone or his sinister assassin second-in-command, Frank Nitti (Billy Drago), who is always dressed in an impeccable white suit. A relentless beat, like a thrum of adrenaline, also speaks to the dogged rigidity of Ness and his crusade to bring Capone to justice. The screenplay by David Mamet is among his best, and many characters--especially Malone--enjoy some hard-biting dialogue. Gritty and powerful moments in the plot exude a primal power that feels raw and untamed. The Untouchables is like the other side of the coin of Brian De Palma's earlier work, Scarface--Ness is an incorruptible agent of the law, while Tony Montana was clearly the opposite. Both films are presaged by a brief title card--like a "here there be dragons" placard--warning that we are entering a world of violence. Both are also meaty, masculine crime epics, where morality is tested, and people discover themselves in the midst of the carnage. It is implied that there is a "higher" morality in The Untouchables, something Malone has learned in his time on the beat--something which Ness has yet to accept. Ness moralizes to the Chicago police, ordering them to defer from drinking alcohol now that he's "on the case"--their blank, ordered faces come as no surprise. Ness considers his job to enforce the law, but he begins to understand that his real job is to protect those exploited and made into victims by Capone's corrupt empire. The seed of this mission is first planted when the mother of a victim of Capone's enterprise comes to see Ness. This is when he truly feels the weight of his responsibility, more tangible than just reading about it in the paper.
The real heart of The Untouchables is in the paternal-like camaraderie between Ness and Malone. Malone frequently asks the question of Ness: "What are you prepared to do?" It is the mantra he tries to drum into Ness' head, to make him understand that he must be willing to commit all of himself in order to stop Capone. Malone puts it in no uncertain terms that Ness must go beyond the limitations of an arbitrary system of laws, because Capone doesn't play by the rules, and he's cagey enough to know how to lead a patsy like Ness around who does. Malone makes it clear that Ness can trust "no one", but acknowledges that they can't take on the mob alone. He helps Ness recruit a young, talented, and soft-spoken police academy recruit named George Stone (Andy Garcia), as well as a brainy fellow agent named Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), who first posits the idea of indicting Capone on tax evasion as a means to getting Capone off the streets. Malone mentors Ness, but avoids moralizing to him, stating cold, hard realities in his speech about "the Chicago way" of hitting your opponent harder than he hit you to put him down. Their moral positions are essentially a conflict between "idealism" (Ness) and "pragmatism" (Malone); elements of both factor into crafting the plan to put the squeeze on Capone and eventually find the proverbial chink in his armor. Nitti's involvement usually presages an escalation in the violence. He is like a malevolent phantom, a specter that cares not a whit for decency or human empathy, threatening Ness' family and worse as Ness makes headway in his campaign. The war on Capone becomes one of attrition, and Malone's defining question echoes like the ringing of a bell, becoming louder as each tragedy unfolds. Other films give the hero an unrealistic pass at resisting the devil's invitation for vengeance; ultimately, Ness moves beyond this childish interpretation of comic book heroism when push comes to shove with Nitti. He understands that there can be no way to rationally deal with monsters like Nitti and Capone; that you have to hit them where it hurts for it to mean anything. But this worldliness comes with an emotional toll for Ness. His relationship with his wife, Catherine (Patricia Clarkson), never seems in peril, but there is less of the warmth that was so bright at the start of the film, when she smiles while she packs his lunch into a brown paper bag and he reads the paper. If Ness has lost something here, it is a sacrifice for something that is more important than complacency or comfort; he often says it's good to be married, but now he understands why.
One of the most disturbing elements of The Untouchables is in how Capone is treated from the very start like he is the boss of Chicago. Everyone from sniveling reporters to opera performers kisses his feet. He is the enfant terrible, the bad boy superstar, the naughty prince who is made into a celebrity, because he is slick, savvy, and publicly flaunts a widely unpopular law. He is emblematic of the raw corruption that has maligned Chicago like a deep-rooted cancer, and it takes the direct intervention of the Federal government (via Ness) to try to quarantine it. The city's administration is so lousy with vice that near the end of the film, when we see Nitti had possession of a literal get-out-of-jail-free card from the mayor, it comes as no surprise. The city so stricken with feeble politicians and cops on the take, that it's no wonder Capone finds Chicago to be a ripe fruit ready to be devoured. But rather than administer his reign of terror directly, he poses and postures like a politician, partying in fancy suits, and cracking jokes with the press. It is no coincidence then that this story is set during Prohibition--in retrospect, the amendment appeared to be arbitrary, motivated by political interests first. From this platform, Capone spins his bootlegging empire as an act to support the public welfare. He represents himself as a "Robin Hood" type figure, a rebel against the "tyranny" of an indifferent government. But his true face--hidden beneath his shaving cream at the start--is that of a vicious tyrant and murderer. Capone represents the worst kind of "community supporter", a politician who claims that he serves the people, when he only serves himself. Capone also represents the ultimate businessman; he appears amiable to the public to disarm the public, but is willing to do anything to achieve his greedy ends. When made wroth, Capone's true side emerges, speaking to his thuggish roots. He becomes a monstrous ogre, wielding a baseball bat to bludgeon a colleague who dissatisfied him at a fancy dinner, or spewing profound language at Ness in public (scandalous in 1930). The real terror of The Untouchables is imagining the film without Ness and his Untouchables--because without them, it might have been nigh impossible to shut down the likes of Capone. A good man is needed to do what is necessary to slay the proverbial dragon.
Recommended for: Fans of tough and intense action drama loosely based on true events, set around the Gangland war in Chicago between gangsters like Al Capone and men like Eliot Ness. The Untouchables boasts a stellar cast and bevy of talented artists, and deals with bold, important themes like justice versus morality.
The real heart of The Untouchables is in the paternal-like camaraderie between Ness and Malone. Malone frequently asks the question of Ness: "What are you prepared to do?" It is the mantra he tries to drum into Ness' head, to make him understand that he must be willing to commit all of himself in order to stop Capone. Malone puts it in no uncertain terms that Ness must go beyond the limitations of an arbitrary system of laws, because Capone doesn't play by the rules, and he's cagey enough to know how to lead a patsy like Ness around who does. Malone makes it clear that Ness can trust "no one", but acknowledges that they can't take on the mob alone. He helps Ness recruit a young, talented, and soft-spoken police academy recruit named George Stone (Andy Garcia), as well as a brainy fellow agent named Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), who first posits the idea of indicting Capone on tax evasion as a means to getting Capone off the streets. Malone mentors Ness, but avoids moralizing to him, stating cold, hard realities in his speech about "the Chicago way" of hitting your opponent harder than he hit you to put him down. Their moral positions are essentially a conflict between "idealism" (Ness) and "pragmatism" (Malone); elements of both factor into crafting the plan to put the squeeze on Capone and eventually find the proverbial chink in his armor. Nitti's involvement usually presages an escalation in the violence. He is like a malevolent phantom, a specter that cares not a whit for decency or human empathy, threatening Ness' family and worse as Ness makes headway in his campaign. The war on Capone becomes one of attrition, and Malone's defining question echoes like the ringing of a bell, becoming louder as each tragedy unfolds. Other films give the hero an unrealistic pass at resisting the devil's invitation for vengeance; ultimately, Ness moves beyond this childish interpretation of comic book heroism when push comes to shove with Nitti. He understands that there can be no way to rationally deal with monsters like Nitti and Capone; that you have to hit them where it hurts for it to mean anything. But this worldliness comes with an emotional toll for Ness. His relationship with his wife, Catherine (Patricia Clarkson), never seems in peril, but there is less of the warmth that was so bright at the start of the film, when she smiles while she packs his lunch into a brown paper bag and he reads the paper. If Ness has lost something here, it is a sacrifice for something that is more important than complacency or comfort; he often says it's good to be married, but now he understands why.
One of the most disturbing elements of The Untouchables is in how Capone is treated from the very start like he is the boss of Chicago. Everyone from sniveling reporters to opera performers kisses his feet. He is the enfant terrible, the bad boy superstar, the naughty prince who is made into a celebrity, because he is slick, savvy, and publicly flaunts a widely unpopular law. He is emblematic of the raw corruption that has maligned Chicago like a deep-rooted cancer, and it takes the direct intervention of the Federal government (via Ness) to try to quarantine it. The city's administration is so lousy with vice that near the end of the film, when we see Nitti had possession of a literal get-out-of-jail-free card from the mayor, it comes as no surprise. The city so stricken with feeble politicians and cops on the take, that it's no wonder Capone finds Chicago to be a ripe fruit ready to be devoured. But rather than administer his reign of terror directly, he poses and postures like a politician, partying in fancy suits, and cracking jokes with the press. It is no coincidence then that this story is set during Prohibition--in retrospect, the amendment appeared to be arbitrary, motivated by political interests first. From this platform, Capone spins his bootlegging empire as an act to support the public welfare. He represents himself as a "Robin Hood" type figure, a rebel against the "tyranny" of an indifferent government. But his true face--hidden beneath his shaving cream at the start--is that of a vicious tyrant and murderer. Capone represents the worst kind of "community supporter", a politician who claims that he serves the people, when he only serves himself. Capone also represents the ultimate businessman; he appears amiable to the public to disarm the public, but is willing to do anything to achieve his greedy ends. When made wroth, Capone's true side emerges, speaking to his thuggish roots. He becomes a monstrous ogre, wielding a baseball bat to bludgeon a colleague who dissatisfied him at a fancy dinner, or spewing profound language at Ness in public (scandalous in 1930). The real terror of The Untouchables is imagining the film without Ness and his Untouchables--because without them, it might have been nigh impossible to shut down the likes of Capone. A good man is needed to do what is necessary to slay the proverbial dragon.
Recommended for: Fans of tough and intense action drama loosely based on true events, set around the Gangland war in Chicago between gangsters like Al Capone and men like Eliot Ness. The Untouchables boasts a stellar cast and bevy of talented artists, and deals with bold, important themes like justice versus morality.