It was cold yesterday evening, so I went into my TV room and fiddled with my remote control. For the first time ever, I looked at what SKY Movies had to offer. Blimey! "The Untouchables" was on.
"The Untouchables"
The film had already started. I joined the film as Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables were waiting to ambush a booze convoy at the USA /Canada border.
I’ve seen this film a number of times and always loved it – the performances of Robert De Niro as Capone, Kevin Costner as Ness and Andy Garcia as his police sidekick I always found outstanding.
This time, however, I saw the film in a different light. De Niro was brilliant, of course, but Costner was not as impressive as I remembered. Sean Connery, as the Irish beat cop with a Scottish accent, was also a revelation. I’d always thought on previous viewings of the film, that he’d hammed it up. Not so!
He was an important catalyst.
Billy Drago, the actor who played Frank Nitty, was also off the scale of evil. Drago died in 1999 aged 73, younger than I am now! Blimey!
The scene on the stairs at New York Central Station was as tense and brutally exciting as ever and the courtroom scenes were also tight and just right.
After the film ended, I went to the loo. When I got back to the TV, another film was just starting, a thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
"Nightcrawler"
I’d only ever seen Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) with the late Heath Ledger. I liked his performance, but in this film, he was at a completely different level - a revelation!
He played a hustler and very well too. He made this viewer, at least, warm to his character, even though he turned out to be totally unscrupulous.
The only other actor in the film whom I knew was Rene Russo, from her appearance in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999) opposite Pierce Brosnan.
From my recollection she was a beauty in that film and certainly matched Faye Dunaway in the original version with Steve McQueen (1968).
She was older here but still gorgeous. I fully understand why the character played by Gyllenhall, Louis Blum, fancied her!
Cos I did too!
I enjoyed the film immensely. And it must have been good, because I stayed awake. Normally after dinner and a few beers I drop off. Not this time.
© The Culture Vulture
Tags:
Al Capone, Andy Garcia, Billy Drago, “Brokeback Mountain”, Eliot Ness, Faye Dunaway, Frank Nitty, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Costner, Louis Blum, New York Central Station, "Nightcrawler", Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, “The Thomas Crown Affair”, "The Untouchables"