I always think of Connery and Costner when I think of this movie. De Niro is arguably a bigger name than both, yet I always forget De Niro had a big role in the flick too.
I never think De Niro when I think about “The Untouchables.” I never think about “The Untouchables” when I think of De Niro’s career / filmography.
Did DeNiro get overshadowed?
I never thought about it before, but you are correct. DeNiro'sperformance is very cliched, which is what DePalma probably wanted as this is more of a fairy tale than a gangster movie. I am not knocking the movie ; I love it.
shareOther than the baseball bat scene, De Niro didn’t have much to work with. It’s such a static role.
shareI never thought he did very well at this
It was interesting. DeNiro was pitched the Capone part early on, but said no.
So the producers signed British cockney actor Bob Hoskins -- based on his work in The Long Good Friday(1980) and, just recently, his Oscar nommed work in Mona Lisa(1986.) This was one year before Hoskins' biggest role (in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where he got a role turned down by Harrison Ford!)
Hoskins was good to go but the producers took one more try at DeNiro...and got him. Hoskins was paid off in full, saying something like "Anytime you want to pay me my full price NOT to do a movie...you know where to find me!"
If Hoskins had played Capone, it would have looked like more of a supporting role...though his Oscar nom for Mona Lisa made him a bit of a star.
With DeNiro in the role, suddenly it took on more "expectation." This was the man from Godfather II (Oscar, supporting) and Raging Bull(Oscar, Best Actor.) This was a "prestige movie star."
And while the role in some ways didn't look big enough for DeNiro...I, for one, think he pulled off something really interesting:
His very "prestige presence" made the role MORE IMPORTANT, even if he was "just around the edges" of the movie.
And the character IS important.
Eliott Ness's entire mission is to "get Capone." And Capone at first doesn't take Ness seriously at all. But as Ness scores wins, Capone gets angrier and angrier and launches murderous retaliation and ultimately...Ness gets Capone. But at great cost.
One thing to remember about DeNiro when he made The Untouchables. He had two Oscars and a prestige reputation, but he wasn't much of a "traditional entertainment movie star." Hoffman, Pacino and especially Nicholson could shift between big entertainment and "serious work," but DeNiro held off on "fun movies." He wasn't especially bankable -- lost some roles for that reason.
CONT
The Untouchables was a great big summer hit and DeNiro seemed to have "popped his cherry" for entertainment. The next summer, he kept going on his newfound "entertainment movie" voyage with the buddy comedy "Midnight Run," a movie that indeed put a prestige art film gloss on crime and action, but was MAINLY crime and action. Now DeNiro was "good to go" for entertainment movies. When he did a short part in Ron Howard's rather pulpy "Backdraft" in 1991, DeNiro announced he was "for hire." Rocky and Bullwinkle and Meet the Fockers were not far off.
Anyway, I think DeNiro to The Untouchables in 1987 was what Nicholson was to "Batman" two years later. The most "prestige star" for the part.
There's no way De Niro is (was) a bigger name than Connery. (I appreciate you said 'arguably')
shareWatching it now after knowing about it for years and had no idea that De Niro was in it.
shareDe Niro only has a relatively small role in this movie. Costner and Connery are the main characters and even Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith (Wallace) get more screen time, so it's not a significant part of De Niro's filmography.
Costner and Connery were superstars in the 80s. De Niro was a hugely respected actor but not really a Hollywood star like Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.