But the second problem, and this is the major one, is the ending (the last 15 minutes anyway). It seemed like Scorsese, or writer William Monahan, didn’t know how to end the film and just filmed the first thing they could think of to get the film done and dusted on time. And the fact that the rest of the film is so damn good makes the ending that much worse, at least for me anyway. It’s virtually the same as the one in Infernal Affairs, with the exception of an added final scene which is the prime reason for my hating of the ending, but in that film it seemed to actually make sense and mean something. Here it feels rushed, amateurish and very disappointing.
The Departed comfortably and justly could be mentioned in the same breath as such Scorsese masterpieces as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver. Although not as good as those films, and in terms of comparing extremity The Departed could readily be called “tame”, it’s not exactly an insult as those are high levels to match. There are plenty of Scorsese’s trademarks here: from its bold and sometimes blackly comedic violence, extreme profanity (especially from Mark Wahlberg’s tough guy cop), strongly developed characters, and pretty much everything else we’ve come to know and love about the legendary director. It goes without saying that this is a must-see, even if it loses its way before film’s end.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
"The Departed comfortably and justly could be mentioned in the same breath as such Scorsese masterpieces as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver."
They may be mentioned in the same breath as long as their isn't a comparison to their quality because Departed is very flawed. There's more "top quality filmmaking" taking place in The Aviator.
The story is bad. It's unbelievable that Costello couldn't figure out Billy was the rat. And how convenient that in the old days Costello would just kill everyone, yet changes his policy for no apparent reason.
"Nicholson" and "non-over-the-top" don't belong in the same review of the film. The scenes where he is at the restaurant talking about rats and jumping around at the porno theatre are completely ridiculous.
It's an entertaining B-movie that has some great moments, but certainly not a must-see.
2 - Ross Miller
" "Nicholson" and "non-over-the-top" don't belong in the same review of the film. "
Nicholson, as I said, plays more of an outlandish character than one would normally come across (in everyday life and in a lot of films) but I was simply saying that he's not AS over-the-top as he COULD be, certainly not as some other people if they'd have played the part. When you compare this performance and character to that of The Joker in Batman '89, he can definitely be described as "none-over-the-top"
"It's unbelievable that Costello couldn't figure out Billy was the rat."
And why is it unbelievable? There was nothing that Billy did that would out him blatantly as the rat. He was convincing enough when talking to Costello, and remember Sullivan checked the files and told Costello he was definitely not the rat because he couldn't find anything about him.
"And how convenient that in the old days Costello would just kill everyone, yet changes his policy for no apparent reason."
It's not for no reason. He said he would have justed killed everyone years ago, but they say in that exact scene that he's now 70 years old. He's getting too old to just go around kllling everyone, plus with the improving police forces trying to catch him he has to be more careful.