Adorkable: Wallace is a very nerdy guy with an enthusiasm for accounting. Even when he takes a level in badass, he awkwardly charges his opponents while screaming then follows it up by sipping alcohol from the now leaking barrels when no one's looking.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Possibly overlapping with Fridge Brilliance; Capone's lawyer, at the end, immediately enters a plea of guilty as soon as the judge orders the bribed jury swapped out for another one. The lawyer does this without Capone's consent which, as noted on this wiki and elsewhere, is grounds for an immediate mistrial in real life. Anyone ever consider that said attorney knew this and pulled the stunt as a Hail Mary to get Capone off once he knew it was otherwise all over?
Catharsis Factor: Nitti being thrown off the courthouse roof by Ness is nothing but crowd-pleasing considering how much of a monster Nitti has been throughout the movie.
Complete Monster: Frank Nitti is the main enforcer and hitman for Al Capone, personally doing much of Capone's dirty work. Nitti is first introduced coldly bombing a restaurant on Capone's behalf, with a little girl being killed in the blast. Nitti also threatens the lives of Elliot Ness' family when he starts making trouble for Capone. Nitti later murders two cops, a mob witness and Untouchable agent Oscar Wallace all in succession and writes the word "Touchable" on the wall in blood. He also tricks Untouchable and Irish cop James Malone into a compromising position to gun him down not long after that. Nitti then shoots an officer who attempts to help Ness detain him and finally taunts Ness about how Malone "died screaming like a stuck Irish Pig" and how he will not face justice for this.
Consolation Award: A conversation in the film Trainspotting suggests that Connery received the nod for Best Supporting Actor for this reason.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: A major theme of the movie is that most people want alcohol and feel that prohibition is a stupid law. The movie was released in 1987 at the height of the War on Drugs and an era where every generic movie bad guy was The Cartel. In this movie the bad guys were The Mafia (technically they weren’t, but were still viewed as filthy ethnic criminals). One could argue this is Strawman Political about whether or not the War on Drugs was worth it.
The same film sees Connery act opposite John Rhys-Davies, who would go onto be part of the 1993 Untouchables TV series as a member of that incarnation of Ness' team. His character's name? Michael Malone.
Love to Hate: Billy Drago's portrayal of Nitti is so scary that he's arguably the most memorable character in the movie.
"Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him."
Narm: The stairway scene is well executed, but in isolation and with extensive slow motion and tight angles on the baby, it can come off rather cheesy.
Toward the end of the bridge scene, Ness throws a frag grenade at one of the gangsters, which then explodes. Even on a first viewing, it's apparent that the grenade itself does not blow up, but rather a separate charge buried directly behind it.
The green screen effects during Nitti's death scene are pretty noticeable as well.
and an era where every generic movie bad guy was The Cartel. In this movie the bad guys were The Mafia (technically they weren’t, but were still viewed as filthy ethnic criminals). One could argue this is Strawman Political about whether or not the War on Drugs was worth it.