A superb film that was based on a TV series, which spawned it's own 1993 TV series spinoff. Sean Connery won the Supporting Actor Oscar for his perf as street-smart Chicago cop Jimmy Malone. Kevin Costner is very good here as well, as Federal agent Eliot Ness, before his career took a nosedive (and if you don't believe me, check out 3000 Miles To Graceland. Better yet, don't bother.)
Eliot Ness..........Kevin Costner
Jim Malone.........Sean Connery
Wallace.............Charles Martin Smith
Stone................Andy Garcia
Al Capone...........Robert DeNiro
Frank Nitti..........Billy Drago
Mrs. Ness...........Patricia Clarkson
So many great scenes and lines here. Three come to mind - when Malone is explaining how to get Capone (in a church, no less.) Also, when Ness is chasing Nitti on the roof of the courthouse. (Great line - "He's in the car.") Also, the scene at the train station, where a baby carriage is headed down the stairs in the middle of a gunfight.
This was the second film in which DeNiro put on weight to play a heavy man. The first time was when he gained 60 pounds to play the older Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
My nitpick is a factual one - This film depicts Ness as having a wife and child. But - in real life, Ness never married, nor had kids.
Actually Ness went on to be the Public Safety Director of Cleveland, Ohio and did a fine job of cleaning up the corrupt local police dept.
Ness was married 3 times, first to Edna Staley, then to Evaline McAndrew, lastly to Elizabeth Seaver. They adopted a son named Robert.
Oops. My bad. I remember reading around the time that this film was in the theaters that Ness was never married. Thanks for the correction, Butch.
DeNiro's performance is a fun bit of overacting. I'M AL CAPONE! I'M AL CAPONE!
Costner is still getting his groove on as an actor, but Ness isn't exactly a hard role to play. I'm not sure if his stiffness helps or hinders him; his line while throwing Nitti over the roof is rushed and hurried, but is that the point?
Garcia is great. My favorite line: "Yeah, I got him."
Capone was eventually sent to prison for tax evasion, the only thing they could get him on. He ruled the roost in every prison he went to, except Alcatraz, which put him on the same level as every other prisoner. More on Capone here.
I don't believe Ness was married at the time of his campaign against Capone if I recall the true life book I read based upon his life.Also,Frank Nitti was a suicide,not dropped from a building by Ness as in the movie.