The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: A few loose ends, but a great flick
Summary: 4 Stars
Like most people, I watched this movie mainly just because of the impressive star power of the cast. (Which, in our celebrity obsessed culture, is probably just as good a reason to watch a movie as any). And it is quite an impressive cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and directed by Martin Scorese....Now is that a cast or what? And I know that usually in movies with too many big names somebody ends up being under-utilized, but I thought all the main actors in this movie were given at least a couple great scenes to chew the screen up.
Some researching on the internet reveals that this movie is an American remake of the Hong Kong flick "Infernal Affairs". (I've not seen "Infernal Affairs", but I've seen the previous at least. It always looked kind of interesting.)
"The Departed" is set in Boston and revolves around the Irish-American culture and the Irish mafia. It doesn't come close to the level of pyscho-analysis that "The Godfather" did for the Italian mafia, but there are various throw away lines referencing the Irish-American experience: "Twenty years after an Irishman could't get a job, we had the presidency. May he rest in peace."
The plot gets a little complicated but basically Jack Nicholson is a Irish Mafia boss. Leonardo DiCaprio is an undercover cop infiltrating the mafia. Matt Damon is an undercover mafia who has infiltrated the police department. As the movie progresses various betrayals and changes of allegiance follow.
I don't want to give away too much to anyone who hasn't seen this movie, but at various points I thought it should have been obvious who the respective moles were. And it seemed like everyone was getting pretty sloppy and getting away with it. But that's Hollywood for you I guess.
Also (and again, I hope I'm not giving too much away here. Spolier alert) the climax of the movie revolves around a taped conversation. You know, it turns out that something one of the characters said was being tape recorded and he didn't know it, and he said a lot of self-implicating things. Like we've seen a million other times in a million other movies and TV shows.
I suppose this is the most obvious way to end a story like this (which is why it's been used so many times before), but perhaps because it is the most obvious it is also the laziest. For my two cents I would liked to have seen a more interesting ending.
But the movie definately held my attention for the time I was watching it.
Movie Review: Best Scorcese Film Since Goodfellas
Summary: 3 Stars
The Departed is pretty good, but not because its large cast is good or because of Martin Scorcese's direction.
Its good because the original Chinese film its copied from, Infernal Affairs (2004) was a superior plot.
The story is about two impersonators who have infiltrated the Boston crime scene. One is employed by the Police Department to find any moles who might have penetrated the force. The other works for Boston Mobster Frank Costello, not related at all to the Mafioso who rapped his knuckles on a congressional desk in the fifties during a televised hearing about organized crime.
Jack Nicholson plays Costello and wrecks the movie pretty much. In interviews, Nicholson said he wasn't inclined to be in the film because the Costello role was little more than a cameo. But Scorcese had the part built up for Nicholson, hurting the film in the process.
The film is a tightly wound tale of intrigue about moles inside the Boston department. Leo De Caprio and Matt Damon play the spies. De Caprio is better than Damon but not by much. De Caprio knots up his forehead too often in order to be taken seriously as a slightly troubled cop.
There's a certain amount of advanced technology to sleuth the mystery the audience already knows the answer to. But this is a great script.
Jack Nicholson's Costello is over the top, damaging a pretty good film substantially. De Caprio is off his mark too.
But this is the best Scorcese film in years, better than Gangs of New York or the Aviator, both of which were directed by Scorcese and both of which featured Leonardo De Caprio.
Nicholson is so awful and such a gargoyle, he reminds me of Burl Ives, who was terrible as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958. Nicholson is almost always miscast and overacting these days. I think the last decent film he did was the Postman Always Rings Twice in roughly 1980. He hasn't been good in anything since, but they keep paying him as if he's a bankable star.
Other actors in what is supposed to be an ensemble film include Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alex Baldwin, Vera Farmiga and Krista Dalton. Dalton is a newcomer and is quite good. But Baldwin, Farmiga and Wahlberg don't get enough time to act with Nicholson chewing scenery all the time.
The film, due to its extraordinary plot and a series of film surprises, is quite good, despite everything.
Movie Review: Never has a film been so aptly titled!
Summary: 5 Stars
Never has a film been so aptly titled!
"The Departed" tells the story of two Boston cops - one called Billy (played by Leonardo di Caprio) who is "good" and one called Colin (played by Matt Damon) who is most certainly rotten. Colin is using his power and influence to protect his gangster father-figure Costello (Jack Nicholson).
The police know that they have a traitor in their midst so two investigators - a wise old cop Queenan (Martin Sheen) and a young tyro Dignam(Mark Wahlberg) have secretly asked Billy to infiltrate Costello's gang to find out who the mole is.
So begins a race against time between Billy and Colin to see who gets "outed" first.
Scorsese has humbly described "The Departed" as a genre movie. But it is more than that - sure it's a bloodthirsty gangster film with more than a few credibility issues - but this is Scorsese in top gear. The concentrated energy and almost stylised nature of the plot gives "The Departed" an operatic quality.
Scorsese draws superb performances out of the big-name cast - did I mention Alec Baldwin as the wonderfully oily Chief of Police?
Truly exciting film-making from this master film-maker.
Movie Review: Uneven but good
Summary: 4 Stars
This film confounds me. How can it be so chaotic and uneven and yet still force me to watch again and again.
The DiCaprio storyline is pretty flawless, but the Damon storyline fall flat. The idea of this two mirroring each other fails because the tension in Damon's life never reaches the level of DiCaprio's.
DiCaprio getting caught means death. Damon getting caught means... maybe jail. Bad yes, but not devastating.
Movie Review: The Departed 2 Disc Special Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
When I checked item out initially I was under the impression it was in a tin box with photo cards as specified, it was a special edition this was false but of a different kind to the delivery, but overall am still happy with the goods and the speed of delivery was excellent