Movie Review: The Departed Is Amazing
Published October 17, 2006
Goodfellas was perhaps the most notable and definitive film of the 1990s. It is still one of the most memorable organized crime movies ever produced. Martin Scorsese's latest piece is set to define the first decade of the 21st century, which is no historical surprise, considering he shares the undisputed Mafia throne with Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather).
The Departed combines everything that's great about organized crime thrillers and cop dramas. There's betrayal, sex, murder, drugs, and enough Irish and Italian attitude to make me long for Sunday supper with the family. This is one of the best movies of the year, and the Academy will certainly acknowledge that fact when Scorsese finally takes home the award for best director of the year.
This is not another Mafioso whack-fest (though there's plenty of it). The Departed is a thinking man's action movie with a hall of fame cast based on an earlier Asian film called Infernal Affairs. It is set in Boston and loosely based on James 'Whitey' Bulger, giving it an instant cult of New England followers who follow the film gamut from Boondock Saints to Mystic River.
Leonardo DiCaprio is good as a true-believing undercover cop. Sure his accent isn't up to par, but no one truly butchers the English language the way natives of Eastern Massachusetts can, so I can't cast blame upon him for that. Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson are both excellent, and Nicholson returns to villainy with the panache that only he can deliver. His style as organized crime kingpin Frank Costello is so blunt that it's almost subtle.
Alec Baldwin gave a fine performance as a loopy cop named Ellerby, and Martin Sheen stood out as a compassionate yet determined state police brass, in a role that almost went to Robert De Niro, but his work on The Good Shepherd kept him from what would have been his tenth appearance in a Scorsese film.
One performance that really stood out was Mark Wahlberg's breakthrough performance as Dignam, an antagonistic good-guy with a mouth to boot:
Colin Sullivan (Damon): [Fighting] What the fuck?Overall, not much of a children's movie, but Wahlberg was excellent in this movie, and I expect him to get nominated for his supporting role and wouldn't be surprised to see him take it down.
Dignam: You motherfucker! Cocksucker!
Colin Sullivan: [Fighting back] What the fuck did you say you cocksucker? What the fuck did you fucking say?
Dignam: Your mother's cunt! Your mother's cunt!
It was also good to see Damon take a leading villain role and do something with it.
A great plot, great cast, and great directing resulted in a great movie.
- Movie Review: The Departed Is Amazing
- Published: October 17, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Crime, Video: Drama
- Writer: John Guilfoil
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I thought Scorsese was really, really off his game in The Aviator, a boring Hollywood biopic movie that didn't really become a Scorsese picture -- or even come alive -- until the last hour, when Hughes was having to face down the Senate committee. Suddenly you had something Scorsese could sink his teeth into -- another version of God's lonely man, facing down a mob. But that doesn't forgive the enormous, draining drag of the first half.
The Departed is superior to that film in every possible way, the main one being that Scorsese seemed to really be at home, not just on the mean streets but in the great tradition of late 1940s film noir gangster films like Force of Evil and Kiss Me Deadly. I've seen the movie twice now; give me another week or two, and I'll be up for a third.
And where do you get "stood out of the way"? Please -- the film is PURE Scorsese from first frame to last, the entire shape of it, the songs, the everything. It is more distinguishably his film than it is any other single person's.
I thought Scorsese was really, really off his game in The Aviator, a boring Hollywood biopic movie that didn't really become a Scorsese picture -- or even come alive -- until the last hour, when Hughes was having to face down the Senate committee. Suddenly you had something Scorsese could sink his teeth into -- another version of God's lonely man, facing down a mob. But that doesn't forgive the enormous, draining drag of the first half.
The Departed is superior to that film in every possible way, the main one being that Scorsese seemed to really be at home, not just on the mean streets but in the great tradition of late 1940s film noir gangster films like Force of Evil and Kiss Me Deadly. I've seen the movie twice now; give me another week or two, and I'll be up for a third.
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Your IMDB link says DeNiro would have played Costello and Gerald McSorly would have played Queenan.
I'm not sure why so many people want to give Scorsese the Oscar for this. He didn't do a great deal and mostly stood out of the way. Just compare it to The Aviator. If he didn't win it for better films, he shouldn't get it for this. It would just be a make-up. Plus, I might consider him inelgible for the rat that appeared in the last scene.
How does one share an undisputed throne?