2008 Woodie Awards
The Departed: Bodies, bad words, and Boston accents abound
*** (of 4), 149 Minutes, R
Roger Priddy
Issue date: 10/10/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Revered, beloved, forever Oscar-unloved director Martin Scorsese is back with The Departed, a gritty, witty New York cop/gangster crime drama. Never can I remember the director of a picture being so obvious.
The Departed is sheer "Scorseseism," featuring all the director's trademarks. The neo-violence, the inundating profanity, double-wide thick Yankee accents, ubiquitous amorality in the goal of hailing a loftier moral, and the utter over-top-ness (that Scorsese has never directed Al Pacino is an unfathomable tragedy) of it all. It's easier to tell that this is Scorsese's movie than to decipher what the "G" in UNCG stands for. And it's a good, solid film with impressive acting that generates intensity (perhaps just because of its Scorseseness). But it's no masterpiece, and I was a bit disappointed with it, seeing how so many other fellow critics have rattled that it was more delightful than cheese to a ravenous rat. The Departed has some slow parts, disjointedness, a weak character, and isn't as emotionally involving as it should be. It's no Raging Bull, but it is vintage Scorsese and worth a trip to the theater.
The Departed also has one of the most appropriately descriptive titles that a movie could have, because in this one you start with a lot of characters, and you end with a lot less of them. The bodies do depart here, that's for sure. It's a remake of a popular Hong Kong film called Wu jian dao (Infernal Affairs). The movie entails many things and many people, but the main focus is on two characters; two men on opposite sides of the fence, Colin Sullivan and Billy Costigan. Sullivan (Matt Damon) is a Boston State Police detective with deep-rooted connections to ruthless, powerhouse gang lord Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Sullivan is the rat for the Irish mafia, while Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is also a rat, a Boston cop working undercover. Quickly, Costigan gets so deep in the game with Costello's crew he has to incessantly lunge forward just to keep his eyes above the quicksand. You know where this goes; it's only a matter of time before these two's paths connect, and when they do, the blood hurls every which way.
Acting is my thing, and acting is the thing here. This movie's got so many big names, and most of them deliver. Nicholson probably fares the best. Nicholson is one of the greatest ever, and the guy just knows how to play a villain. Here he spouts the juicy monologues right and the guns left and finds a way to be simultaneously repulsive and charming. This easily could be his thirteenth Oscar nomination. Matt Damon, who is so much better than Affleck or Hartnett and who I've liked in a lot of stuff (The Bourne movies, The Rainmaker) unfortunately doesn't display a lot of range and could have stretched his character further. DiCaprio, though sometimes bemoaned, is a talented actor too who I (for one) thought was good playing Howard Hughes in Scorsese's The Aviator. DiCaprio feels a little miscast here, but works hard and does what great actors do; find a way to make the character work. Mark Wahlberg as a Tony Montana-like profanity spewing cop is certainly memorable, and Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, and David O'Hara provide strong support. The loser is Vera Farmiga, playing the woman in a feeble love triangle with Costigan and Sullivan. Farmiga is out of her league like a Harvard boy trying to be a gangster, and she doesn't have the look or feel for the role. Somebody radiant was needed, and Farmiga doesn't bring the confidence and passion necessary. She's the film's glaring weakness, and The Departed would have been much better had the triangle parts been more developed or departed with altogether.
Scorsese's direction for the most part is good, but it takes a while for the movie to get going, and it loses focus at points along the way. Without sounding a prude, the profanity and accents here are so over-the-top they take away a bit from the picture, particularly that of Wahlberg's character. Would somebody really swear every other word during a job interview or detailing the latest police assignment? It's not realistic. And, as I've found is a problem with a lot of Scorsese's later work, you don't care about his characters. Nobody's perfect, but perhaps there's such a thing as making every character so over-flawed that there's no one to root for.
But, weaknesses aside, it does have the acting, a great ending and a classic closing shot, and it's better than most movies you'll see. I look forward to the next movie planned in the Scorsese-DiCaprio marriage,, scheduled to be released sometime in 2008.
The Departed is sheer "Scorseseism," featuring all the director's trademarks. The neo-violence, the inundating profanity, double-wide thick Yankee accents, ubiquitous amorality in the goal of hailing a loftier moral, and the utter over-top-ness (that Scorsese has never directed Al Pacino is an unfathomable tragedy) of it all. It's easier to tell that this is Scorsese's movie than to decipher what the "G" in UNCG stands for. And it's a good, solid film with impressive acting that generates intensity (perhaps just because of its Scorseseness). But it's no masterpiece, and I was a bit disappointed with it, seeing how so many other fellow critics have rattled that it was more delightful than cheese to a ravenous rat. The Departed has some slow parts, disjointedness, a weak character, and isn't as emotionally involving as it should be. It's no Raging Bull, but it is vintage Scorsese and worth a trip to the theater.
The Departed also has one of the most appropriately descriptive titles that a movie could have, because in this one you start with a lot of characters, and you end with a lot less of them. The bodies do depart here, that's for sure. It's a remake of a popular Hong Kong film called Wu jian dao (Infernal Affairs). The movie entails many things and many people, but the main focus is on two characters; two men on opposite sides of the fence, Colin Sullivan and Billy Costigan. Sullivan (Matt Damon) is a Boston State Police detective with deep-rooted connections to ruthless, powerhouse gang lord Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Sullivan is the rat for the Irish mafia, while Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is also a rat, a Boston cop working undercover. Quickly, Costigan gets so deep in the game with Costello's crew he has to incessantly lunge forward just to keep his eyes above the quicksand. You know where this goes; it's only a matter of time before these two's paths connect, and when they do, the blood hurls every which way.
Acting is my thing, and acting is the thing here. This movie's got so many big names, and most of them deliver. Nicholson probably fares the best. Nicholson is one of the greatest ever, and the guy just knows how to play a villain. Here he spouts the juicy monologues right and the guns left and finds a way to be simultaneously repulsive and charming. This easily could be his thirteenth Oscar nomination. Matt Damon, who is so much better than Affleck or Hartnett and who I've liked in a lot of stuff (The Bourne movies, The Rainmaker) unfortunately doesn't display a lot of range and could have stretched his character further. DiCaprio, though sometimes bemoaned, is a talented actor too who I (for one) thought was good playing Howard Hughes in Scorsese's The Aviator. DiCaprio feels a little miscast here, but works hard and does what great actors do; find a way to make the character work. Mark Wahlberg as a Tony Montana-like profanity spewing cop is certainly memorable, and Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, and David O'Hara provide strong support. The loser is Vera Farmiga, playing the woman in a feeble love triangle with Costigan and Sullivan. Farmiga is out of her league like a Harvard boy trying to be a gangster, and she doesn't have the look or feel for the role. Somebody radiant was needed, and Farmiga doesn't bring the confidence and passion necessary. She's the film's glaring weakness, and The Departed would have been much better had the triangle parts been more developed or departed with altogether.
Scorsese's direction for the most part is good, but it takes a while for the movie to get going, and it loses focus at points along the way. Without sounding a prude, the profanity and accents here are so over-the-top they take away a bit from the picture, particularly that of Wahlberg's character. Would somebody really swear every other word during a job interview or detailing the latest police assignment? It's not realistic. And, as I've found is a problem with a lot of Scorsese's later work, you don't care about his characters. Nobody's perfect, but perhaps there's such a thing as making every character so over-flawed that there's no one to root for.
But, weaknesses aside, it does have the acting, a great ending and a classic closing shot, and it's better than most movies you'll see. I look forward to the next movie planned in the Scorsese-DiCaprio marriage,
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