The Untouchables (1987)

: Hot Potato

Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro

I love films about gangsters and/or the Mafia. This one tells the story of Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and his team of “Untouchables”, a special unit of Prohibition agents. They are working against all odds in Chicago, where everyone is on the take and virtually owned by Al Capone (Robert De Niro). The unit members, consisting of Treasury Agent Ness, a street-wise beat cop (Sean Connery), an accountant (Charles Martin Smith) and a rookie cop (Andy Garcia), are “untouchable” because they cannot be bribed. The movie establishes its place in the halls of gangster classics early on, skillfully demonstrating Capone’s godlike status and his ruthless form of leadership. The performances are spot-on and the film puts you there; you are steeped in authentic looking locations, costumes and sensibilities of the period. It is violent but not overly gory, tense and suspenseful, well cooked and full of flavor.

-PotatoPatti