Scenes We Love: The Untouchables
Filed under: Fandom, Scenes We Love
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It's no secret Robert De Niro has fallen on hard times in recent years, especially insofar as "hard times" are defined as "choosing to appear in terrible movies almost exclusively." But he's played several iconic characters in the past, including Al Capone in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables.
This film has many famous scenes. Here's one of my favorites, in which Capone has a friendly meeting with his associates, discusses his love of baseball, and then hits a line drive up the middle. His speech leading up to it is great ("Enthusiasms... enthusiasms... enthusiasms"), and the tension is unbearable -- especially if, say, you first watched this movie years ago and know how the scene will end but don't remember exactly when it's going to happen.
The scene is based on a legend about Al Capone that may or may not be true. Albert Anselmi, John Scalise, and Joseph Giunta were found dead in May 1929, all of them shot and horrifically beaten. Years later, the story would emerge that they'd been lured to a dinner by Capone (they were all associates of his), who had turned on them with a baseball bat before other Capone henchmen stepped in to finish the job. I don't know if it's true, but I like to think it is.
By the way, while the violence here isn't as explicit as I remembered it, it's still pretty harsh. It might be considered "not safe for work" if you work in a place where the bludgeoning of ineffective team members is frowned upon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2009 @ 5:48PM
Andy said...
Another amazing pick.
People piss on Brian DePalma like crazy, but it's scenes like this that make me think otherwise. As noted, the tension in this scene is unbearable...you just know something bad is about to happen. It's great.
teamwork...
teamwork
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3-12-2009 @ 5:44PM
Tyler said...
Exactly, maybe he didn't make good movies recently but I sure remember what he did in the 80's and also Carlito's Way is on my "friday night projection" list...
3-10-2009 @ 7:21PM
vinnie said...
For me, nothing beats the staircase shoot out in this movie. classic.
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3-11-2009 @ 3:21AM
Nick said...
I still have yet to see "The Untouchabels," but my parents are in the background of the scene that I believe precedes this, where DeNiro is pouring the champagne into the pyramid of glasses. Perhaps I should actually see the whole movie...
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3-11-2009 @ 7:52AM
j said...
everything about this movie is classy. makes me homesick for chicago. i always quote this scene, enthusiasms... randomly for whatever reason, but mostly when cooking Italian food in the kitchen (I do a mean DeNiro in the kitchen). something about this movie always makes me hungry.
another scene that bears honorable mention is the inquisition scene at the canadian border, where Sean Connery is holding the dead mobster up outside the shack to get the weasel inside to talk.
even better is the "knife to a gunfight" scene. breaks my heart every time. "What are you prepared to do?"
damn beautiful.
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