Flick of the Day: Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

It can often be a fool's errand to revisit the things you loved from your childhood. For whatever reason, you can never really go back and enjoy the pastimes of your youth with the same level of engrossment. Very often, you find that the films, music, books and games and other elements of pop culture were not as good as you had thought at the time and worse than that you tarnish the memory of what they meant to you. Myself, well I can quite vividly remember singing Bryan Adams hit "Everything I do (I do it for you)" over the end credits of today's flick of the day in the Adelphi cinema in Dublin in 1991. As a child it was my favourite movie and this never seemed to diminish with another viewing. Suffice as to say, it is many years since I have sat down and watched it and for all that I have just said, I was tempted back into the Sherwood Forest of my youth where Robin Hood had an American accent and the Sheriff of Nottingham was a wondrously camp version of Hans Gruber from Die Hard. Today's flick of the day is the immortal Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

We meet our titular hero, played with cocksure abandon by a Kevin Costner at the height of his powers, in the cells of a Jerusalem prison after his capture during the last crusade of Richard the Lionheart, King of England. In a dashing escape he befriends and saves the life of a Muslim prisoner named Azeem, played by Morgan Freeman who indebted with his lie, vows to return to England with Robin. While Robin is making his way home, we learn that his father played by of all people Brian Blessed, has been murdered by the treacherous Sheriff of Nottingham. Nottingham is a wonderful over the top turn from Alan Rickman whose characterisation is a joy to behold throughout. Before long Robin arrives back on the shores of Dover and in an interesting geographical twist arrives in Nottingham not long thereafter.Befriending the lovely maid Marian, he vows revenge on his father's killer.

There is much here which the hip cynical twenty something in us all could find fault with not least Costner's inability to attempt an English accent, the appearance of Christian Slater as Will Scarlet and an ability to play fast and loose with both history and geography however for me, this is as enjoyable a romp as I once believed it to be. All of the leads give strong performances in a feel good adventure movie sense and in Rickman's Sheriff, the film has one of the most entertaining and scene stealing performances ever. Rickman portrays the villain as a buffoonish prig filled with pithy one liners. It is a delight.

[the Sheriff has said he'll cut out Robin Hood's heart with a spoon] 

Guy of Gisborne: Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe? 

Sheriff of Nottingham: Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more. 

Apart from this, the film delivers some great action scenes and successfully builds the tension as the film wears on and Robin is forced into a final confrontation with the dastardly Sheriff.

So then Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is that rare treat (from my perspective anyway), a childhood film which is as enjoyable 20 years later as it was on release. Sure it is over the top and glossy but it is just too much fun not to get dragged in. In comparison to the decidedly po-faced Russell Crowe version from 2010, this will have you cheering Robin on at the end and perhaps even singing along to Bryan Adams as well.

Flick of The Day: The Untouchables

The rise and fall of Al Capone and the man who took him down, Elliott Ness, is a classic American tale. Its been told many times, both on screen and in television, but perhaps it has never been told as well and with such panache as this 1987 effort from Brian De Palma. Today's film is The Untouchables.

The Untouchables (Special Collector's Edition)

It is amazing how often great things come together almost by accident. A script developed by the famed Chicago playwright David Mamet that is unusually efficient in its use of dialogue, became attached to Brian De Palma, in need of a hit having not directed a successful film since 1983's Scarface. Robert De Niro took on the role of Al Capone only after Bob Hoskins had dropped out at the last minute. Add this to the talents of Sean Connery in a career best performance and Kevin Costner with a score by the legendary Ennio Morricone and the rest is history.

Set during the time of Prohibition, the film opens with the arrival or Elliott Ness, played with schoolboy charm and naivety by Kevin Costner, in Chicago at the behest of the Dept of Treasury to bring an end to the illegal liquor business and the violence that sustains it. He soon finds that everything flows through Alfonse Capone, a menacing performance from De Niro and that with corruption rife he has no hope of achieving his goal alone. A chance encounter with an ageing beat cop, Jim Malone, leads to the formation of a new unit, an incorruptible group with the sole goal of sending Capone to jail. Connery was justly lauded for his performance as Malone, winning Best Supporting Actor in that year's Oscars. His character is the emotional centre of the film and he acts as mentor to the initially naive Elliott Ness, guiding him through the often brutal encounters with the gangs that control the liquor market. As almost everyone now knows, Capone was finally taken down by a failure to pay his income tax. 

The actors are aided in their endeavours by a fine script from Mamet, containing some great lines of back and forth dialogue and a number of tour de force set-piece scenes for which the film is still fondly remembered today. The dialogue is typically Mamet.

Malone: Why do you want to be a police officer? 

Williamson: To protect the... people and the... p... 

Malone: I'm not looking for the textbook answer. Why do you want to join the force. 

Williamson: The force? 

Malone: Yeah, why do you want to join the force. 

Williamson: Because... I... 

Malone: Yeah? 

Williamson: ...think I could help. 

Malone: You think you could help. 

Williamson: ...with the force. 

Malone: Thank you very much, you've been most helpful. 

[Williamson leaves] 

Malone: [to Ness] There goes the next chief of police

Perhaps the most famous scene is the shoot-out on the steps of Union Station. In a tribute to Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin in which a baby in a crib fall's down the Odessa Steps during a massacre, as Ness is on the lookout for Capone's bookkeeper who is due to depart on the last train of the day. Of course the bookkeeper and his protectors arrive just as Ness is helping a woman lift her carriage up the steps. An elegantly filmed shoot-out ensues which is both balletic and bloody.

In summary, this is a true classic with a great cast, an excellent script and a great score from Morricone. Ultimately, it's just a great yarn that holds your attention from beginning to end. It is interesting that this film really was a career high for so many of those involved. De Palma hasn't made a great film since, with a number of turkey's along the way (Mission to Mars??). De Niro's career has trailed off as he increasingly takes on roles surely only for their financial reward, while both Sean Connery and Kevin Costner have had their ups and downs in the intervening years.