The Untouchables (DVD, 2004, Widescreen Special Collector's Edition)

I am what you could call a relatively new movie fan. I have always liked movies, but I didn´t use to watch too many of them. Things have changed, but due to that previous attitude, I still have a lot of old movies to “discover”. That is the reason why from time to time I find some jewels that were released a long time ago, but that are totally new to me. “The untouchables” (1987) is, of course, one of such movies.
This film is set in Chicago, during the prohibition, a time were mobsters had enormously increased their influence due to the contraband of alcohol. The most important of all mobsters was Al Capone (wonderfully played by Robert De Niro), whose influence was pervasive and somehow accepted by most as a fact of reality. Capone controlled Chicago with force and bribes, and a philosophy that the scriptwriter of this movie (David Mamet) summed up in a phrase that the actor that plays Capone said: “Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him”.

Things change when a newcomer to the city, Federal agent Elliot Ness, forms a small group to fight crime and target Capone´s shady dealings. The group formed by Ness, an old Chicago cop (Sean Connery), a rookie police officer (Andy Garcia) and an accountant (Charles Martin Smith), replays in a highly entertaining way Brian de Palma´s cinematographic version of “The untouchables”.

I should point out that you shouldn´t expect a movie that tells you the historical truth about that period in America´s history. If that is your purpose, you are likely to be sorely disappointed. However, if you want to watch a great film, with wonderful performances and marked by a dynamic pace, rent this movie :)