The Untouchables

    Have you ever watched a movie that when you get to the end you think, "How have I never seen this before??" I came across The Untouchables one boring afternoon and saw that it was a mobster movie that had a decent all star cast of Sean Connery, Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro (all favorites of mine). The movie was just fun and exciting. A total story of good v. evil, inspired (or based on) by actual events, and brings to light the darkness and the depravity of the Mafia by bringing no glory to it all. 

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The Untouchables

Top: Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery)
Bottom: Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) and George Stone (Andy Garcia)

      In the 1930s, at beginning of Prohibition, Al Capone (Robert De Niro) has become the Kingpin of all illegal activity. Charismatic, charming and arrogant, Capone has all of America in his pocket while living large in upscale Chicago. However, Federal Agent Eliot Ness refuses to give in to the gangster and his racketeering and publicly announces that he will take down Capone. After a humiliating liquor raid, Eliot gets unexpected help from an old school Irish-American cop, Jimmy Malone who helps him improve his raid game, but first they need to get the right men.

      So they recruit brainy federal accountant Oscar Wallace who believes that they can nail Capone on tax evasion and George Stone or Giuseppe Petri, a crack-shot rookie cop who is trying to hide his Italian-American heritage to avoid prejudice. Together these four very different, but equally determine men slowly begin to uncover Capone's underworld with intelligence, courage and guile which eventually leads the press to name them 'The Untouchables' because they can't be bought by anyone. 

     Just as life is looking promising, Capone strikes back and he strikes back hard, by brutally murdering two of the Untouchables in gruesome public deaths. Still the American government refuses to give in and Capone is finally brought down by the justice he thought he could control and by four men who could never be touched by dishonesty, greed or injustice. 

The Untouchables of Chicago and Al Capone

     Just a great film that combines all the elements of history, action and no small amount of charm that gets you from one scene to the next. All of the acting was fantastic and the story had some great characters, but my favorite was definitely George Stone. His character really brought a great deal of decency to all Italian-Americans who simply wanted quiet normal lives and he was just a genuinely kind and generous man (and it's Andy Garcia). 

     The music really adds to the excitement of the story and the beautiful period costumes....all done by George Armani! Has that ever been done before or since?? Being a mobster film it is violent, but not over the top, just a lot of blood with no slow torture, thankfully. So, call it a mob movie, an action flick, a period piece or just a great watch, The Untouchables boasts a well written story that portrays good men who become everyday heroes when they take down the bad for the good of all people. 

I wish I this much of a bad-ass when it comes to helping my friends