Brian De Palma knows how to make a fantastic gangster film.

Based on true events, “The Untouchables” follows Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness and his team on their quest to bring the famous crime boss Al Capone to justice.

The film is suspenseful, hyper-stylish, captivating, and entertaining from beginning to end. It´s also quite cheesy but, in my opinion, this only further adds to its charm. De Palma´s direction is brilliant and features several of his trademarks, including stunning cinematography, unusual camera angles, tracking shots, split screens, split diopters, zooms, POV´s, and slow motion. The striking and highly energetic visual style alone makes “The Untouchables” a must-see. There are several masterfully crafted and iconic scenes, my favorites being the attack on Malone in his apartment and the staircase scene.

Furthermore, the film features outstanding production design that perfectly recreates the prohibition era, a perfect pacing, a wonderful Morricone score, and phenomenal performances. All the team members of the Untouchables are likable, interesting, and memorable and their chemistry is great. Sean Connery´s show-stealing and Oscar-winning performance as the street-smart but idealistic patrolman Jimmy Malone is definitely the highlight, and his dynamic with Kevin Costner´s Ness is heart and soul of the film, but the rest of the cast is great as well. Robert De Niro as Al Capone definitely leaves his mark in spite of being a bit underused, and I also enjoyed Billy Drago as Capone´s creepy enforcer Frank Nitti.

“The Untouchables” completely took me into its world and I wasn´t bored for a second. Even though it can´t compete with genre kings like “The Godfather”, “GoodFellas” or “Once Upon a Time in America”, this charming, stylish, and exciting gangster film goes straight to my favorites.