Reviews

The Departed

As any Scorsese fan should be, I was very excited that Marty was returning to the genre that made him. What made me distraught was when I read the Associated Press review by Christy Lemire. What Miss Lemire complains about was the length of the film. I’m sorry did she miss something throughout the entirety of Scorsese’s career? The man is not known for making short films. The man makes epics filled with interesting characters that are fully fleshed out and pulls fantastic performances from actors great and small. If she is completely clueless to this fact then I guess that is her problem, but do we need to suffer the opinion of one who just doesn’t get it? For those who aren’t aware, The Departed is a remake of Infernal Affairs, a 2002 Hong Kong film. The plots are very similar where two men from similar upbringing are thrown into this cat and mouse game of infiltrating each other’s professional worlds, a cop poses as a gangster and a gangster as a cop. While the original film is quite good from what I hear, Scorsese takes the original material and along with William Monahan's script, makes the film his by putting us in the dark world of the Irish/Bostonian mafia and gives the film his signature stamp. Though not dissimilar from its Italian or Japanese counterparts it does have a certain character all its own.

I can safely say that every actor worth his or her salt is in this movie, and I mean everybody. When actors learned of the first-time pairing of Jack Nicholson and Scorsese, they jumped at the chance to work on this film. Even A-list stars Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio took a pay cut just to work on this.

Aside from this there is not a weak performance within. Standout performances include Nicholson, of course. This role seemed to be tailor made for the elder statesman as he shines as the sadistic mob boss Frank Costello. I also have to mention that DiCaprio really impresses as undercover cop Billy Costigan. Not since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape have I seen such a believable and inspired performance. He even got the Boston accent right. Mark Wahlberg steals every scene he is in, as does Alec Baldwin. Martin Sheen and Damon both turn in fine performances, but nothing worth going into detail about.

Now getting back to my beef with Lemire’s review. I just find it hard that anyone can sit, watching this film checking their watch. Yes, the film is two and a half hours long but I found it very engaging. The movie has some very strong development and a mounting tension that builds up to a very satisfying payoff. Now if we were talking about Gangs of New York then I would agree, but on this one I pull an idiot card on her. Then again I guess the A.P. has a tendency to hire writers that have no idea what a good film is even if it bit them on the ass.

For any fan of Mean Streets, Goodfellas, or Casino I can do nothing more than give The Departed my highest recommendation. In a industry that has seen the mighty fall hard and talent less hacks rise to glory, it is a blessing to see a master craftsman show the rest of the world what a great film looks like.

9.5/10
- George

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