Film: The Departed

[lee214]

its not all that-its entertaining but its a far cry from scorsese at his best. its sad how the dearth of quality movies has resulted in mediocre offerings such as this being labelled as 'great' & 'unmissable'

 

[Banquo]

^
what didn't you like about it?

 

[asancho]

Saw this movie last night....FREAKING AWESOME! I mean, i was VERY apprehensive about seeing this movie, especially since matt Damon and Leo Decaprio dont really do anything for me, and since Leonardo Dicaprio (an italian) plays an Irish Guy. I thought this movie was gonna dissapoint, but WOW did it deliver! And then some!

The acting = In-fucking-credible...i mean, i havent seen this kind of acting in a movie since...well i cant even remember. I mean, ALL the actors really stepped up to the plate with this movie. VERY CONVINCING PERFORMANCES! The only guy i really couldnt take seriously was the black cop guy (you know, the once that was in scary movie 4 or whatever), but i dont think you were supposed to, i mean yhe came up kinda goofy in the movie.

Plot = awesome....on the edge of my seat the whole movie

Soundtrack = Ehhh....it was OK. I love The Stones, but i dont like how the movie was edited with the music...coulda been done better...

Cinematogrophy = lack luster...i feel like some shots could have been done better. The re-occuring theme with the Golden dome building in boston...i mean, couldnt they have chosen a better landmark? its freaking Boston, and they coulda chose something better (maybe some memorial from the revolutionary war, something to symbolize the characters struggle for the american dream? Just a thought)

And the ending shot...with the Rat? Cmon...that was kinda cheesy

All in all...great movie!

 

[wizekrak]

It's the State House, I though it symbolized everything it needed to. A symbol of power and success.

 

[McLaren]

I just saw this movie yesterday at a matinee ($7, ouch!) and I thought it was great. I haven't seen Internal Affairs, so I can't comment on that. but not knowing anything about the story itself, I thought it was an outstanding way to tell it. plus, it was really easy to follow. usually for me, if there are a lot of characters working both sides of right and wrong, I get lost. I lose track of who's who and what they stand for. but with this movie, I followed it perfectly.

How did Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Daemon do as the leading roles? I think Matt looks like too much of a "good boy" to fit the role of an undercover cop in a crime syndicate and Leonardo looked too young...
...
...How did they perform? They just dont look their role in the trailer, but hopefully they act it.

I was a little confused by the trailer and couldn't tell who was the bad guy and who was the good guy. in the theater, I was a little bit surprised to see them in the roles they had. Matt being such a clean, perfect example of an upstanding cop. and Leo being a scrubby, upstart still cutting his gangster teeth, seemed to fit for me. but wait! it's the other way around. because Matt was so good, it had me thinking happy thoughts of him walking away from everything on top. he tricked me into rooting for the bad guy, and end up hating the good guy. Leo had me a nervous wreck when he was on screen. he made me feel his nervousness and I was truly worried that he would be found out. so in my opinion, they both did a great job playing in roles that I wouldn't have thought to work.

 

[allan51]

I would just like to go on record and say Mark Wahlberg pwns this movie. fucking awesome.

the rest of the movie was pretty good too. high on the good movie list, but nothing to freak out about.

 

[Banquo]

Mark Wahlberg seems to be hit or miss. He was fantastic in Boogie Nights and Huckabees, but his acting in Planet of the Apes and some of the other films he's done has been awful, imo. In The Departed, however, there are strong performances all around. The only question mark, for me, hangs over Martin Sheen. There are a couple of scenes that don't seem to work, but the film was so dense that it's going to take another viewing for a final opinion.

Overall, I thought the movie was another Scorsese masterpiece, probably most comparable to Casino. The credibility of Sullivan's (Matt Damon character) ultimate decision in the elevator towards the end also bothers me. Again, it needs a second viewing. There's a lot in there.

Small complaints aside, The Departed and Miami Vice are the best films of the year so far. But unlike Miami Vice, The Departed should appeal to a much wider audience, so I feel a lot better about recommending it to people. Five stars.

 

[OutOnTheVeranda]

Pretty damn good, def worth seeing.

 

[kittyinthedark]

The acting was phenomenal, but the movie wasn't great. I felt like it just petered out rather than being climactic as I know it was supposed to be...

 

[SA]

The acting was phenomenal, but the movie wasn't great. I felt like it just petered out rather than being climactic as I know it was supposed to be...

kittyinthedark, I agree 100%. Half an hour into the film, I was texting my friend that he should have come, that the movie was awesome! An hour after the movie, when I met up with that same friend, he asked again how it was and I said "meh... it was okay". I hated the ending. It was as if, in ending the sentence, they were trying to follow a full stop with an exclamation point, which doesn't really work that well. Four stars thanks only to the cast and performances.

 

[thujone]

^-- i concur. the ending made me feel like i had wasted two hours :S I really enjoyed the characters though. Nicholson was fucking EVIL! I still remember back in the day when I used to call the guy deCRAPrio but Leo made the film. He has to work the hardest to convince the audience that he's playing a character because he isn't as charismatic as other A-list actors but he overcomes it with pure talent. Facing him off with Matt Damon made me realize just how overrated Damon is. I'd see this movie again just to see DeCaprio act, he's da man.

 

[L2R]

there's a reason this is his third scorsese picture (in a row no less!).

It's seems like Leo is Scorsese's new Deniro.

 

[felix]

Just watched it last night, after much anticipation. %)

Was a bit dissapointed about what spots he used the Rolling Stone's song Gimme Shelter though. I realize that he has used this song both in Casino and Goodfellas, but in those movies, the song was playing over beautiful montages, of drugs and violence--in the departed , it was played once in the beginning, and then in the middle during matt damon's talk with his g/f in the kitchen, very un inspiring.

Heh, I had the exact same thought too.

When I heard it start, I literally thought to myself: "Ahhhh brilliant! Is there ANYTHING cooler than Gimme Shelter (or Freebird) over a Scorcese montage?" But it fell a bit flat really, and was clumsily (IMO) mixed through with dialogue.

But not everything can be Goodfellas. It was a great film in its own right, however. Every single one of the main cast was excellent.

4 out of 5 from me...


P.S. Best line ever: "Go and rescue a kitten out of a tree, ya buncha fuckin' HOMOS!" :D

 

[Liric]

Varied between good and great until the ending, which was less than graceful.

NSFW:

Kinda like they realized they were 2 1/2 hours into it and they didnt really have an ending in mind that could do justice to everything that came before it, so they just shot everyone in the face and called it good. I was laughing at the end cuz it was comical how characters kept showing up and getting the headshot treatment.

 

[felix]

^ Hey Liric... press this button, please:

Spoiler: The Departed

Welcome to Film & Television! Please click here to read the forum guidelines!

... especially the bit about spoilers!

 

[L2R]

I think i'm the only one that thoroughly enjoyed the ending. It is conveniently wrapped, but i thought it was solidly done. There'd be too many loose ends, both major and minor if done differently.

 

[Benefit]

Good film, not great.

The film is excellent from a technical perspective but the writing was hit or miss; while I understand they were shooting for stylized hyperbole, some of those lines were pretty garish. The acting was good but not particularly noteworthy other than Alec Baldwin's performance as the quirky and manic police official.

Jack Nicholson was trying too hard; not one of his better performances.

It just wasn't particularly impressive when considered as a whole. Certainly entertaining, but not very deep; some of the scenes were downright sophomoric and became very silly with all those random punch-fests.

The ending was interesting; it was a little silly, but I respect Scorsese for trying to do something different.

 

[Stillblind]

I think the part where Castello walks up to the two priests in the diner was the funniest thing. Did anyone get a close look at the drawing.

 

[panic_the_digital]

^I missed the drawing too. I think Banquo is pretty much spot on in his review. I understand how some of you are disappointed with the ending, but the same old cookie cutter ending gets old.

 

[Karaboudjan]

"Darling, you're giving me a hardon!"