Kevin Costner's Crime Thriller Masterpiece Still Beats Any Western He Ever Made

To many people, Kevin Costner is the guy who makes Westerns. His role as John Dutton in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone will forever be legendary. Others liked him more as Charley in Open Range or as the title character in Wyatt Earp. My favorite Costner character? Lieutenant John J. Dunbar in Dances with the Wolves.

Regarding his love for Westerns, the actor told The Talks, “I guess I have always had a level of understanding of the genre; I had a high level of interest in it and how to portray it. All the details and the little things in a Western, they’re very American. And no one’s ever confused me with anything other than being an American, so I get it.” However, Kevin Costner’s greatest movie isn’t about cowboys. It’s The Untouchables, a crime thriller directed by Brian De Palma and released by Paramount Pictures in 1987. Nominated for four Oscars, the movie is widely regarded as one of the greatest gangster movies of all time.

It’s Costner Vs. De Niro in ‘The Untouchables’

Sean Connery and Kevin Costner in The Untouchables

Kevin Costner’s Westerns explore relevant topics like racism and conservation, but they also tend to embrace most of the Western genre’s tropes. They are mostly prolonged ordeals of pursuit, defense, and flight, and feature the all-too-common practice of betrayal. They also have two types of characters: the brave, smart ones and the withdrawn, down-at-the-heels ones. The latter are often bored, leaning irritably against the demands made on them.

The Untouchables took Costner away from the frontier and placed him in an urban jungle where morality is influenced by profession more than personal beliefs. The movie tells the story of the legendary Eliot Ness (Costner), an American Prohibition agent who became famous for his relentless attempts to bring down the pugnacious Chicago mob boss, Al Capone (portrayed by Robert De Niro). Ness led a team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables, who were known for resisting bribery from the city’s criminal underworld.

Paramount execs must have been astounded when The Untouchables was a major hit in 1987. It grossed more than movies with proven formulas like Lethal Weapon and the 1983 film Good Morning Vietnam. They had been particularly concerned about not having an established actor in the leading role after Jack Nicholson turned down the chance to play Ness (via AFI). However, Costner gave an excellent performance. So did Sean Connery as the cynical veteran Irish-American officer James Malone, who is disgusted by the rampant corruption in the city. Andy Garcia also made a name for himself as George Stone, a young law enforcement recruit known for his marksmanship.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed rewatching the movie with a beer in hand as a reminder of the freedoms we enjoy today. (“Catch me if you can, Eliot Ness!”) The Prohibition Era has never made sense to me. The law enforcement budget would have done wonders for cancer research if Al Capone and his associates were just left to sell alcohol. However, there is no denying that crime stories from this era are some of the wildest.

‘The Untouchables’ Almost Had a Prequel

Robert De Niro in The Untouchables (1987)

In the early 2000s, it was reported that Paramount and producer Art Linson were laying the foundation for a prequel movie called The Untouchables: Mother’s Day (later changed to Capone Rising). It would have focused on the rise of Al Capone, long before Ness poured the drinks and ruined the party. Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day and Michael, was hired, a choice that was seen as excellent at the time.

Fuqua had established himself as one of America’s most exciting young filmmakers, a creative auteur with a flair for dissecting the complexities of criminal relationships and the traumas of the victims. If handed the keys to such a lavish and detailed production, he would have easily woven together the various strands of all previous Al Capone movies into one entertaining, colorful tapestry.

While Fuqua left the project, there was no reason to frown as Brian De Palma took over. Armed with a script written by Billions co-creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the filmmaker eyed several stars for the lead roles. “At one point, I think I had Nicolas Cage playing Capone, while Gerard Butler was going to do the Sean Connery part. I think we even had Benicio del Toro as Capone at one point,” he told Collider. Sadly, the project stalled.

Cage would have been an excellent choice. After watching him in the TV series Spider-Noir, I’m eager to see him in the 1920s and 1930s once again. I wish Paramount would revive the prequel and make a miniseries instead. Please do this for us. Thanks in advance!