The Untouchables
I think film critics do not tend to use the term “campy”, even though it perfectly describes cult phenomena like “The Blues Brothers” (which, by the way, is absolutely brilliant and not at all that campy!) or Ed Wood’s films. Some movies are just so bad that they become great due to their badness. That’s precisely what campy is about and while they might appreciate this phenomenon in some sense, it seems like there is not enough Selbstironie to dare to put it into one concise word.
Even I find it hard to call “The Untouchables” campy. Nobody else seems to do it and a lot of aspects of the film are downright great. The cinematography of the opening scene is quite beautiful, as are most other scenes involving a grinning, evil Robert de Niro. Direction and cinematography certainly made some scenes memorable and suspenseful: Malone’s murder was one of them, and the Potemkin stairs reference shoot-out was another. The film was very suspenseful and I thought the characters were all extremely likable, especially the nerdy, slightly awkward accountant guy. It goes without saying that I really liked Sean Connery’s performance, and have a little thing for Andy Garcia.
On the downside, I don’t like Kevin Costner as much. His acting skills look on par with Josh Hartnett’s and his character was a little bit like a stock character, but all that is okay. I was much more surprised when I suddenly found myself in a horse-riding Western with some scenes ridiculously dragged out, accompanied by really strange and awkward dialogue.
I would also like to point out that I find Patricia Clarkson much more beautiful today. Perhaps it’s because I have only seen her when she was older, but boy it looks good on her. The wrinkle-less, smooth face of a young woman just doesn’t look as attractive on her, I don’t know why. Her extraordinary skills were also completely on this wife character whose only role is to take care of her children and be worried about her husband.
I am glad that I got recommended to this film, it certainly re-instated Brian de Palma as a director who can actually direct, unlike in “The Black Dahlia”. I’m sure if I would go out and say “Watch this movie, it’s great!” but it definitely was worth a look.
Glad to have been of help! :)
I also didn’t like Kevin Costner too much, but I also thought that sometimes Sean Connery was a little bit over the top. Don’t shoot me for saying this because he got an Oscar for his role, but just from my perspective, I don’t like him screaming so much at people. Though I guess it suited the rash, impulsive character that he was playing – I just thought it was a bit scary sometimes. xD
You are right with the Western confusion, I didn’t get it either. When my friends told me that we were going to watch a movie on Al Capone, I was like “Okay, shooting and stuff”, but horses?! Still, I liked the movie and I’m not usually into this kind of movies.
I am glad we agree on Kevin Costner! Hahaha. I really thought he was strangely bad – the typical case of a good-looking actor who doesn’t act well. As for Sean Connery, I did think that the intensity of his acting suited the character, the anti-hero who drinks yet has a heart of gold. I heard that he was voted “worst accent of the year” though. XD
It’s an unusual film for these kinds of gangster movies, and I don’t even really know why. Maybe it’s less over the top ‘manly’ than they usually are?