The Untouchables – Brian De Palma’s 1987 gangster epic featuring Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, and Sean Connery is heading off Peacock on July 1. With Rotten Tomatoes scores at 83% critics and 89% audience, Pauline Kael called it “too banal, too morally comfortable,” while Roge
By the time you notice it, it’s already too late.
Peacock’s window for watching The Untouchables is shrinking. The film—released June 3, 1987, with a runtime of 119 minutes and directed by Brian De Palma—will be removed from the platform on July 1, giving fans one last stretch to decide whether the movie lands for them.
The stakes around that decision aren’t small. In 1987. De Palma assembled a star-studded cast for a gangster story with Western overtones. and it turned into a major box-office success. It grossed nearly $190 million worldwide against a reported $25 million budget. earned four Oscar nominations. and won in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Yet when the reviews came in, not everyone followed the money.
Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert—two of the most recognizable critics of their eras—ended up largely aligned in their dismissal of De Palma’s The Untouchables. Kael wrote in her New Yorker review that the movie “is not a great movie; it’s too banal. too morally comfortable.” She also faulted how the film frames good and evil. saying gangster pictures don’t typically make “good and evil mutually exclusive. the way they are here.”.
Ebert’s criticism was sharper on the craft itself. In his Chicago Sun-Times review, he criticized the script and the performances, with particular focus on scenes involving Capone. He wrote: “De Niro comes onscreen with great dramatic and musical flourish. strikes an attitude. says a line. and that’s basically the whole idea.”.
The disagreement shows up clearly in the audience-versus-critics split. The Untouchables carries an 83% critics’ score and an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s consensus describes the film as slick on the surface but “loaded with artful touches. ” calling it “a sharp look at period Chicago crime. ” driven by “excellent performances from a top-notch cast.”.
On screen. the movie’s central hook is classic: Kevin Costner plays a law enforcement agent during Prohibition who rounds up a ragtag team to take down notorious gangster Al Capone. portrayed by Robert De Niro. Sean Connery appears as a veteran beat cop recruited by Costner’s character for the elite task force.
De Palma’s film also came from major creative names behind the scenes. The music was composed by Ennio Morricone, and the script was written by David Mamet and Chip Miller. The Untouchables was also the first feature De Palma made based on a popular television series. and his second in that category came later with Mission: Impossible.
Where it all lands—slick or banal, artful or flat—will come down to what you make of the film when it’s still available. Peacock will keep The Untouchables up until July 1, when it’s set to be removed from the platform.
The Untouchables Peacock July 1 Kevin Costner Robert De Niro Sean Connery Brian De Palma Ennio Morricone David Mamet Chip Miller Rotten Tomatoes Pauline Kael Roger Ebert