The Untouchables

Came out in 2011 in France. Got great reviews. Story loosely based on fact of a rich man disabled by an accident who takes on a black personal assistant. I thought it was hopeless. Cliche ridden, facile superficial portrayal of poverty, poor acting, lightweight, pat Hollywood type ending, unconvincing depiction of a seriously disabled person. A case of The Emperor's New clothes.

"The Untouchables" tells the story of real life US Tresury agent Elliot Ness, who fought aginst Chicago bootleggers during the Prohibition.

Most people have heard of Al Capone - well, Ness was his nemesis, of sorts.

The story is loosely based on a book, written about a team of US Treasury agents who became known as "The Untouchables" because of their refusal to accept bribes to leave criminals alone. And the interesting thing is that it's true.

The film, directed by the legendary Brian De Palma, is a heavily dramatised version of the arrest and trial of Al Capone (Robert De Niro in what may be one of his finest roles), seen through the eyes of Elliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner is his younger days).

Ness recruits a grizzled old Police Officer (Sean Connery, with a very shaky Irish accent), an accountant and a young Police recruit, to arrest Al Capone and close down his organisation.

The film is heavily dramatised. In fact, only three characters are based in fact (Ness, Capone and Frank Nitti, one of Capone's employees), and essentially everything is dramatised (except for the charges Capone was found guilty of).

The film contains some amazing action scenes. First is an adrenalin-fueled raid on a whisky shipment in Canada (some breathtaking stunts in this sequence). The second is a suspenseful shoot out at Chicago Train Station (the infamous "falling pram" sequence, which is played in disturbing slow-motion).

One of the sad things about this film is the shocking level of violence. Capone is seen beating a man to death with a baseball bat (this scene was extremely controversial), and Sean Connery's character, James Malone, is brutally gunned down in one of the bloodiest scenes I've ever seen in a movie. While De Palma is known for his tough, violent movie scenes, I wonder if he went too far in some scenes in The Untouchables. If blood isn't your thing, avoid this movie.

However, I thoroughly enjoy this movie. Violence aside, this is a fun "cops and robbers" type movie. And entertaining as well.