Cuz I got nothing better to talk about
4tran's list of Painfully Overrated Movies: (Look for a new one every day for the next week or so)
Volume1 - The Untouchables: Seriously, I enjoy the movie, but there are very few redeeming cinematic elements to this film, Sean Connery being the most notable exception.
Let's start with Costner's performance. First off, I think he's alright in the role. He definitely comes across as the goody-two-shoes type of character that most of us believe Elliot Ness to be. I don't think that Costner is a good actor. He is entirely incapable of delivering dialogue. However, despite himself he's managed to be in some decent movies and have what many would consider a great career. He neither adds not subtracts from this film.
Andy Garcia. I mean, he's a badass. Every cop film has one, we appreciate, we expect it, and I know that I would have been bored to teas if this film hadn't had one. Of course, Sean Connery was really the badass in this film and all Garcia does is crowd the shots and generally remain undeveloped. Sure he makes mark in later scenes and we all dig his cockiness in his first scene (at least, I assume some of us do), but his character is forgettable at best.
That brings me to the cardinal sin of The Untouchables: a lousy script. Characters are only developed in time to have them killed off of an emotional impact. Take the accountant dude who gets shot in the elevator. Most of the early scenes are devoted to building a relationship between him and Ness...so that they can kill him. Sean Connery gets a bucketload of scenes afgter accountant's death and then he gets killed. Cue scene where Costner watches him die and then rages in front of DeNiro. Not to mention the Connery death scene cuts in and out of DeNiro attending Pagliacci. Pagli-friggin-acci.
Speaking of which, DeNiro is criminally used. Criminally. He exudes Godfather stereotype in the 5 scenes he appears in and hurts the movie every time. Either use him or don't use him. To only dangle him in front of the audience is the faux pas (sp?) that ultimately collapses this entire film. It would have been artistically more viable to either expand his part to a major player in the script or remove his appearance in the movie entirely. As it stands, he's only there for name drop, an extended cameo.
This is not character development. This is emotional buildup towards an end: the hallmark of a derivative script. I can find equal writing on the Scifi channel. In fact, I was more impressed by The Man With the Screaming Brain. The only characters who aren't developed are the ones who live through the whole movie. What?Huh?
Volume1 - The Untouchables: Seriously, I enjoy the movie, but there are very few redeeming cinematic elements to this film, Sean Connery being the most notable exception.
Let's start with Costner's performance. First off, I think he's alright in the role. He definitely comes across as the goody-two-shoes type of character that most of us believe Elliot Ness to be. I don't think that Costner is a good actor. He is entirely incapable of delivering dialogue. However, despite himself he's managed to be in some decent movies and have what many would consider a great career. He neither adds not subtracts from this film.
Andy Garcia. I mean, he's a badass. Every cop film has one, we appreciate, we expect it, and I know that I would have been bored to teas if this film hadn't had one. Of course, Sean Connery was really the badass in this film and all Garcia does is crowd the shots and generally remain undeveloped. Sure he makes mark in later scenes and we all dig his cockiness in his first scene (at least, I assume some of us do), but his character is forgettable at best.
That brings me to the cardinal sin of The Untouchables: a lousy script. Characters are only developed in time to have them killed off of an emotional impact. Take the accountant dude who gets shot in the elevator. Most of the early scenes are devoted to building a relationship between him and Ness...so that they can kill him. Sean Connery gets a bucketload of scenes afgter accountant's death and then he gets killed. Cue scene where Costner watches him die and then rages in front of DeNiro. Not to mention the Connery death scene cuts in and out of DeNiro attending Pagliacci. Pagli-friggin-acci.
Speaking of which, DeNiro is criminally used. Criminally. He exudes Godfather stereotype in the 5 scenes he appears in and hurts the movie every time. Either use him or don't use him. To only dangle him in front of the audience is the faux pas (sp?) that ultimately collapses this entire film. It would have been artistically more viable to either expand his part to a major player in the script or remove his appearance in the movie entirely. As it stands, he's only there for name drop, an extended cameo.
This is not character development. This is emotional buildup towards an end: the hallmark of a derivative script. I can find equal writing on the Scifi channel. In fact, I was more impressed by The Man With the Screaming Brain. The only characters who aren't developed are the ones who live through the whole movie. What?Huh?
posted by Video James at 6:00 PM
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