The Departed (555's review)

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If anyone has seen the Asian film Infernal Affairs (1 or 2) the plot will seem very familiar to you. This isn't a straight remake, according to its stars & director. And to be fair it's not really. Its a munch more brutal, sweary & longer version.

Instead of the two brilliant stars in Infernal Affairs (Andy Lau & Tony Leung), we get the good (but over-rated) Leo Dicaprio & the good (but not beleivable as a gangster) Maaaaatt Daaaaamoooon. We also have the nutty Jack Nicholson. The brilliant (but badly accented) Ray Winstone. And three non main characters that are the best in the film, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen And Mark Wahlberg. Mark Wahlberg is excellent & provides most of the swearing.

It lasts 151mins & during the middle its shows. For about an hour its good. It then drags. Then there is a gunfight for a minute that you think could rival Heat for noise levels, but then it stops. And we have a pretty predictable twist. Then we have a seen nearly nicked from I.A., it's done differently, but not quite as well. Although Dicaprio's reaction is brilliant. Then it starts to drag again. Its not until the last 30 minutes starts that the film picks up pace again. With some very good twists (again nicked from I.A.), but there is one good twist for those that haven't seen I.A. (Well it's good, if like me you forgot about a certain character)

I've never said this about a film before, but this is almost to violent. It's weird, i love brutally violent films. But in this it just felt wrong for some reason. Violence for violence sake if you will. Also the gun noises felt wrong, it's the same sound effect they used in M:I-3 & its very hard on the ears. But works better in this.

I have no idea what to give this out of 10, so i'm going to chop it up:
Acting:
The lead 3 characters (Leo, Matt & Jack) - 6/10
The non leads (Alec, Mark & Martin) - 9/10
Action:
Gunfights - 8/10
Punch ups/senselss violence - 5/10
Plot/Direction - 6/10
Twists - (depending on if you have seen I.A.) 6/10 or 9/10

I think overall, i'd give this 7/10. As at the end you feel like you have seen a very good film. But it's that bit in the middle that really drags and shows its 151 min run time.
 
I enjoyed it when I went to see it whilst off work, Jack Nicholson is friggin' nutso in it! I have to disagree with your rating for DiCaprio, I think this film might just have saved his career, now he's grown up I think he has found his most comfortable surroundings. Matt Damon was ok, he didn't really fit the roll he was acting, he would have been better off in some other film like Open Season or something, I dunno, he isn't a gangster, period.

As for the actual story, I found it incredibly confusing half way through, the plot seemed to just fall to shreds and the ending was also a bit OTT. Either way the action sections were superb and Nicholson was a laugh, I'd give it 7.5/10, surpisingly poor considering who directed it..
 
I think the problem is people are probably expecting more than it delivers. Especially given some of the reviews. I've seen this get 10/10 in a couple of places! I never thought much of Matt Damon, but i think the Team America thing has made it harder to take him seriously.
 
At one point, I thought this film was going to be a classic. First half of this film, I was admiring how Scorsese made everything look so easy. I seriously thought it was going to reach the level of "Heat".

Cast is loaded with the familiar faces. Alec Baldwin(whom I adore) looked bit out of place, but Martin Sheen was so money. He was just perfect for the role cunning, sly, but caring Captain. And yes, I absolutely loved Leonardo DiCaprio in this too. 👍

What dissapointed me in this film was the plot. SPOILER ALERT First one being the Leonardo's on foot pursuit of Matt Damon. Leonardo saw his face! As Leonardo followed Damon, they lit Damon's face in Leonardo view, which meant that Damon should've been ID'd near the end. I get the feeling that there was/were alternate ending to this story. What really brought this film down for me was the ending. It was just too messy. One twist after another, it was just too much, I felt.

I'd give it a "B".
 
Bee
I enjoyed it when I went to see it whilst off work, Jack Nicholson is friggin' nutso in it! I have to disagree with your rating for DiCaprio, I think this film might just have saved his career, now he's grown up I think he has found his most comfortable surroundings. Matt Damon was ok, he didn't really fit the roll he was acting, he would have been better off in some other film like Open Season or something, I dunno, he isn't a gangster, period.
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I think Leo was very good in this, but not as good as he was in Blood Diamond. I think this film overall was very good, but again, not as good as Blood Diamond. As for matt Damon, I thought he did well enough, you have to remember, he wasn't playing a tough gangster, he was a smart kid that Nicholson took under his wing to become a mole in the police. He fit the profile for his character well enough imo.
 
I think I've loved every DiCaprio film since Romeo + Juliet (Well, except The Beach, but that doesn't count, because it's crap), and this was no exception. I thought this was a fantastic movie, with some great twists.

Agreeing with Lee. Matt Damon didn't fit in in my opinion.
 
Casio
I think I've loved every DiCaprio film since Romeo + Juliet (Well, except The Beach, but that doesn't count, because it's crap), and this was no exception. I thought this was a fantastic movie, with some great twists.

Agreeing with Lee. Matt Damon didn't fit in in my opinion.
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Am I the only one who liked The Beach? :guilty: I do agree that most of his films are really good. He picks his films wisely. 👍
 
I re-watched this recently and it seemed even worse this time. It is quite good in bits. But all the good bits are mostly nicked from Infernal Affairs (most of the ending, the rooftop etc). Matt Damon seemed alot worse & i am sick of Dicaprio, he is good in this, but oscar worthy!! Hell no.
Mark Whalberg is excellent though.
 
I used to hate Matt Damon, then i started to tolerate him. Then he did the Bournes & i hated him again. Then Team America just made me laugh at him
 
I thought it was pretty good. I think it would have turned out better had it been directed by Quinten Tarentino, although it would have probably ended up being Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction was better. There were some loopholes and parts where I thought: "now why the hell did he do that?;" some little idiosyncrasies that didnt make sense but were easy to over look. I say 7/10.
 
SS69
I thought it was pretty good. I think it would have turned out better had it been directed by Quinten Tarentino, although it would have probably ended up being Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction was better. There were some loopholes and parts where I thought: "now why the hell did he do that?;" some little idiosyncrasies that didnt make sense but were easy to over look. I say 7/10.
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I'm sorry this is off topic. But if you liked Pulp Fiction(and Reservoir Dogs), you might be interested in this Tarantino project.
 
I can understand the prequel explanation, but sequel? How do you do a sequel about two characters who are dead? Oh well, I guess Tarantino will figure it out...
 
i can't believe this film got four oscars, its exactly the same as infernal affairs except for a couple of absolutely useless added bits and stupid jokes.
 
vladimir
i can't believe this film got four oscars, its exactly the same as infernal affairs except for a couple of absolutely useless added bits and stupid jokes.
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I haven't seen the Chinese original, but I'm sure the Scorsese's version exceed the original in some areas. Not all, but most Asian cop action movies quality doesn't quite match that of American counterparts. Usually, over the top action, poor acting, cartoon like plot just kills them for me. I do love Andy Lau though, so I will be checking the original out.
 
vladimir
its not even an action film.
and in fact, the original is a lot more tense and well written than the departed.
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I'm going to go add it on my Blockbuster Online queue right now. I can't wait to see it!
 
555
Infernal Affairs was way better than this. The fact that this one best picture oscar is ridiculous.
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"This won", you mean? While I do think Scorsese is a great director, I can't believe his "The Departed" was the year's best either. :confused:

P.S. Nobody has "Internal Affairs" on DVD for rent. It seems the only way for me to see it is to buy my own copy. :guilty:
 
Imo I did like this film, but Blood Diamond was much better. I really, really liked Blood Diamond.
 

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