The Departed

Tools    





So I just watched the departed and I'm kinda confused and wondering what exactly the twist was supposed to be and every time I look it up I just get people not discussing it but just saying it has a lot of surprise twists.



Well, I'm not sure there is one big twist, in the "everything you knew before was wrong" vein. It's more that the characters react to changing circumstances in real time, so you'll have to be more specific.

I'd check this thread out first, though, which asks some questions about the ending that might mirror your own:

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=43063



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I don't think there was suppose to be a big twist in the The Departed. There were a couple of little twists throughout, but not one huge one.



Welcome to the human race...
My guess would be the part where

WARNING: "The Departed" spoilers below
Costigan is murdered


but yeah, I don't think that necessarily qualifies as a twist.
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
The twist is Matt Damon's character is gay in the movie.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I don't think he's gay just because he had a erectile dysfunction though, is he? Why gay of all reasons for ED?



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Oh .

Another thing about The Departed, is they could have had
WARNING: "SPOILER" spoilers below
Costigan finding out Sullivan was the mole
be a surprise twist, but they decided to give that away right in the beginning of the movie, in order to have a 'bomb under the table', waiting to go off.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
He repeatedly accuses others of homosexuality and uses homophobic slurs throughout the movie from the beginning, notably when he loses the game to the firefighters.

Relationship with Jack Nicholson: Jack was accused of being gay as well by both his girlfriend and Matt Damon, and he also seems to have a rather flamboyant wardrobe. The character that Jack Nicholson was based on was rumored to have been closeted although it was never confirmed. And in fact Jack Nicholson suggests that Damon is gay by shoving the dildo in his face and saying "see anything you like?" They would recognize each other as closeted because as the stereotype that closeted gay guys "just know" when they meet another one. There is also the theory that Nicholson is simply a "pan-sexual psychopathic predator" who will have sex with anyone regardless of gender or age because it makes him feel powerful, and he may have had an inappropriate relationship with Damon as a child.

Responds especially angrily when he is a called a "two faced f***t" by Leonardo DiCaprio.

He hits on other women conspicuously in front of other police officers. He whistles at the woman in the hallway. He gives looks to the woman at the police conference table. He hits on the psychiatrist in the elevator.

Ends up dating and marrying the psychiatrist who is works in the same building as all his colleagues, but note this exchange with Alec Baldwin:
Ellerby: How is your wedding coming along?
Colin Sullivan: Great, great; she's a doctor.
Ellerby: That's outstanding.
Colin Sullivan: Yeah.
Ellerby: Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work. [laughs]
Colin Sullivan: [laughing] Yeah, it's working... Overtime!
Ellerby: I'm glad to hear that.
Colin Sullivan: Yeah... Thank you.
Ellerby might suspect and is testing Damon, in any case, Damon felt he needed to say that his cock was working "overtime."

He said his cock was working overtime, but actually it was not working at all, because he had erectile dysfunction. In fact, his wife got pregnant by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Damon is surprised that she got pregnant at all.

Realtor selling him an apartment asks about whether he has a wife or girlfriend and when he is not totally forthcoming the realtor says, "Oh, I get it, you tend to have a houseguest", implying that he is gay, and Matt Damon reacts by immediately buying the place as though he has something to prove.

Many references to the Catholic Church and abuse by priests/father figures - which may indicate that the reason Jack took an interest in Damon as a child was because Damon was a choirboy (Jack doesn't like the church or priests) and wanted to protect him from abuse by keeping him away from the church since he recognized that he might have been targeted as a gay youth (kind of like in the movie Doubt).

Closeted homosexual as a metaphor for living a double life generally, which is what both Leo and Damon are doing, and possibly Jack Nicholson.
- Reddit

https://filmanalysisandinterpretatio...rted-analysis/

https://whatculture.com/film/12-subt...looked?page=10

I'm not saying it's true, but there is a lot of speculation to it online, hahaha. Me saying that it was the twist in the movie was a joke though.



Yeah, I can imagine. For me it's all just meant to reflect the kind of old-school machismo and overcompensation you see there sometimes, but who knows?

Also works as part of his cover: be a Guy's Guy as a way to fit in better, and reduce the likelihood of being questioned. The confrontational exchanges with Wahlberg's character help sketch out how much of that attitude influences the investigations, too. It attracts a certain type of person. The fact that he overtly hates on firefighters to increase this feeling of factionalism fits this idea.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Oh okay, but there are guys out there who call people homosexual insult names. When I went to school kids would call other kids those sometimes. Does that mean that those bullies were most likely gay themselves then?

Also, when a landlord asks if you're going to have a houseguest, how does that imply that you are gay? If a landlord asked me that, I would think he meant just any houseguest. How does houseguest equal gay?



No, it does not. But some people think it's an indicator. How much will depend on who you ask, but it probably has a disproportionate (relative to reality) presence in narrative, which is why you'll often find this kind of speculation about fictional characters when they say or do those kinds of things.