The Departed

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Sir Sean Connery's love-child
Ok, here goes, I liked it, but was far from blown away by it like some people on this forum.
This might be nit picking, but there were a couple of strange jump cuts, and some edits that appeared flawed.
The performances were all great, but I did feel Jack was trying a little too hard to steal every scene, he's not quite at the " Little Shouty Al " stage, but there were times when I personally felt he was over doing it a little.
So, a good movie not a great movie, Marty has made many better films, so I personally feel the Oscar will elude him once again, unless they do a Denzel on him " two birds with the one stone " probably the best opening line of any Oscar speech ever!
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I thought this movie was wonderful and I loved the exploration of the brilliant ironic contrast between the Costigan and Sullivan characters throughout the movie:

Where Costigan's desire to join the force is to escape his dysfunctional and tragic upbringing and to bring some form of dignity to his family name and of course the ironic twist of fate where he is placed undercover to play a role of the very man he was determined not to become.

The need to prove his worth leads Costigan to live life dangerously undercover, fearing gravely for his life daily and quickly developing a strong dependency on prescription drugs to deal with the daily stress of violence and crime not to mention the lack of emotional support due to the fact that he cannot delve into the details of his job even to his psychiatrist.

Enters a second character, Sullivan who is brought up and molded from an early age to become an inside man for the mob. He lives comfortably and easily in a wonderful apartment, dining in French restaurants and receiving praise from the Police Department and trusted so openly, allowing him to rise up in the hierarchy of the state police without so much as a raised eyebrow in contrast to Costigan, who's motives are constantly scrutinized by both sides of the law.

The two characters came from the same neighbourhood and had similar upbringing before they took different paths: one of corruption and one of virtue. The strong contrast existing in the result of the two choices are then made evident in the film so beautifully in a single scene: where we cut from Sullivan dressed suavely wooing his date in a fancy restaurant to Costigan in hospital receiving a cast to his hand after a violent bar fight which is to kick start his delicate infiltration into the mob circle.

A fantastically painted contrast.

I enjoyed the film immensely and loved the performances - esp Nicholson's and was impressed with Damon's and DiCaprio's.

However, some elements of the movie drove me up the wall... strangely to a point of pure frustration and annoyance.

I understand that when elements in a movie's plot don't necessarily make sense you can simply argue that it is "just a movie" and that the ficticious nature of Movies versus Documentaries means having loose ends and plot holes, but in terms of the movie The Departed... once you look at the all-star cast and the profile of the director - I just find this outlook to be a slight cop out.

I found this movie to rate highly amongst other Scorsese films... I just actually thought the movie could have been even greater than what it was.


BEWARE SPOILERS: READ WITH CAUTION PLEASE

I found it confusing why Costigan didn't just confront Sullivan when he found the "CITIZEN" envelope in his files in the office and chose to leave instead and then later asked Sullivan to meet on the rooftop for a confrontation... could it be he didn't think he would be believed by the members of the force? ... Then why did he ask the guys on the force (Brown) to back him up when he made the "citizen's arrest" on the roof top? Couldn't he have just confronted Sullivan and asked the PD to contact Wahlberg's character Dignam to confirm his identity right there in the office?

I find it comical to believe that Dignam would have left Costigan alone undercover after Queenan's death without trying to contact him.

I also don't quite see why the second mole didn't just let Sullivan take the fall for him... if he feared Costello had given them up to the FBI why bother killing off Costigan and Brown and digging a deeper hole for himself? Bit silly.

The whole "yellow envelope" exchange between Costigan and Madolyn also doesn't quite make sense, it was later never mentioned... you may elude to the fact that it could be a plot device known as a Macguffin - but that would fit if the envelope allows the plot to be somehow furthered, but it doesn't. The story would have still held if the envelope exchange scene was omitted.

I thought that the envelope would be paving way for a final TWIST provided by the Madolyn character and therefore validating the presence of the link Madolyn provided between the Costigan and Sulliven character... but the twist never came and I was left wondering why they even bothered having Madolyn link the characters in the first place, except of course for it to add another touch of irony to the plot. hmmmm...

Still a great movie, I enjoyed it - that is if I don't think too much into it... but where's the fun in that?
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Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Instructions to give the **** to Dignam
No that was a white package though.



just watched The Departed- been waiting for this movie for ages

I loved it- but, it seems, like a lot of people, I was a bit disappointed with the ending- it just seemed a bit sloppy

That said 8/10
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Originally Posted by Ultimate_Thrill
The whole "yellow envelope" exchange between Costigan and Madolyn also doesn't quite make sense, it was later never mentioned... you may elude to the fact that it could be a plot device known as a Macguffin - but that would fit if the envelope allows the plot to be somehow furthered, but it doesn't. The story would have still held if the envelope exchange scene was omitted.
I dont agree that the envelope is a MacGuffin at all, in fact, the importance was pretty clear for me. How do you think Dignam knew about Sullivan at the end of the movie? He is an *******, thats for sure, but that doesnt mean he would simply shoot Sullivan in the end. The envelope contained instructions, "in case something happens to me (Costigan)" Madolyn gave all the proof to Dignam. I dont believe that Costigan instructed Dignam to shoot Sullivan, that was just how Dignam chose to react to the information within the envelope.


The Departed wont get an oscar. Not even for best supporting Actor. But it will be up for more than a few MoFo awards- thats for sure.



Quality movie, go see it now - enough said.



In Heaven Everything Is Fine
The Departed is number two again this weekend with a projected gross of 13.7 million! Amen to that.
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Saw this last night. This was a very stylish, fun movie, and I have no special attachment to Scorcese's old naturalistic/documentary style so I've been really enjoying these last few movies he's made (this, the Hughes movie, Gangs) about as much as any of his others (maybe not Taxi Driver/Raging Bull). On just one viewing I can't be sure of the accuracy of this observation, did anyone else think that the camera in this was pretty static? It seemed like a lot of the sense of motion/timing in the movie came from the editing (those brief pauses at the end of a shot) and had a lot of quick stills establishing shots, sort of comic-bookish. Depressing and completely uncathartic ending but quite good.



I think it's an expert piece of genre film making. I don't think it says all that much- it's just a fun exercise.

My full review can be found here:

http://www.endofmedia.com/?p=66



two thumbs up movie, nice plot..even if mos of the stars died in the end its still one of the best all star cast movie I saw..It's not for children though it has too much profanities in it, but its still the best movie I'm sure it will win in the upcoming oscars..
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You have a couple of "it's" errors: "It's brutal with it's violence and doesn't hold back on anything" should read "It's brutal and its violence, etc."



"With it's fast story telling pace," should read "With its fast story telling pace, etc.

"It's" (with apostopher) is the contraction and means only "it is" or "it has." So "it's brutal" is correct; "it's violence" and "it's fast storry telling pace" is not (in these contexts you're using "it's" as a possessive pronoun [no apostrophe]).

Otherwise, your review is right on!


Rosemary Rhew, Springfield, VA (703-658-8728).




Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
I figure those who don't check my reviews, can talk about the film here.

Here is my review again.

ADMIN EDIT: SPOILERS BELOW

Billy Costigan is an undercover cop who gets thrown into the hands of a notorious gangster, Frank Costello. Colin Sullivan is a member of Costello's gang who is a mole in the Boston police department. Once word gets out that there is a mole in the police department and a rat in Costello's gang, things begin to heat up as they try and smoke out the other.

Infernal Affairs blew me away a couple years ago, then I heard that one of my favourite directors was doing a remake. I was a little hesitant at first, I didn't know if I was going to see old Scorsese (Goodfellas, Casino) or the recent Scorsese (Gangs Of New York, The Aviator). Granted the films under his belt as of late are not horrible, in fact they're great, they just don't have that old school touch that made Scorsese such a great director. With The Departed Scorsese is back to his old form and gives us the best film of 2006.

The Departed is full of old school tricks from Scorsese. From an Iris Out and that classic Goodfellas feel, it makes for an intense thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat. With the crop of films this year not being all that great (save for a select few), The Departed blows them all out of the water. It's brutal with it's violence and doesn't hold back on anything.

DiCaprio and Damon both shine in their roles, with DiCaprio having the more intense part and more screen time. I only favour DiCaprio a tad more because the scenes with Damon and Farmiga are a tad boring to watch. It was a joy to watch both of these characters slowly lose their minds being on both sides of the fence. Although they both shine in this film, they can't touch the great Nicholson. He is absolutely astonishing. He owns every scene he is in, even when he starts acting like a rat. He has this evil presence about him in this film, but he plays it with such a comedic tone, you can't hate the guy, but you can fear him. After seeing how great he is in this film I'm left wondering why Scorsese and Nicholson haven't worked together before now.

Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Vera Farmiga and even Anthony Anderson all blend well together to bring the cast of The Departed full circle. Wahlberg stands out in this list, he is just as mean and foul mouthed as Nicholson and can actually hold his own with such a prominent actor as Sheen sitting right beside him. Alec Baldwin is a joy to watch as he spits out his comedic lines left right and centre and Martin Sheen brings the missing piece that fits the thrilling puzzle that is The Departed.

There are numerous violent scenes that scream Goodfellas or Casino and it's nice to get that old feeling back. The film is gritty, brutal and violent and doesn't let you sit there and feel comfortable with any of it. People are getting shot left right and centre, beaten to death, hit numerous times with coat racks, beaten with shoes, stabbed, thrown out of buildings. The blood splashes all over the screen and with people getting shot in the face everywhere, you feel the uneasiness that Scorsese wanted. It's not as brutal as the one infamous baseball bat scene in Casino, but it ranks up there.

The film does tend to drag on in certain areas, but that's expected. With it's fast story telling pace, Scorsese slows it down a bit so we can get to know more about who these two characters are. He keeps us on the edge of our seats wondering if their cover is going to be blown cause it can be blown at any point in time. Even after watching Infernal Affairs I was still tense, wondering what was going to happen next. That is the work of a great director.

The Departed will get recognized by the Academy, but I doubt it will win anything. Scorsese is after 0/5 in that race. One can only hope though, cause he deserves it so much. This film, although definitely not his best (I don't think anything he does will surpass Goodfellas) packs one hell of a bloody punch. It has strong performances and a dark comedic tone that will have you laughing along with it. In the hands of any other director, it could have been a mess. Thank you Mr. Scorsese, for letting me have fun at the movies again.


9/10



one of my best movie of 2006



A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by rosetours104
You have a couple of "it's" errors: "It's brutal with it's violence and doesn't hold back on anything" should read "It's brutal and its violence, etc."



"With it's fast story telling pace," should read "With its fast story telling pace, etc.

"It's" (with apostopher) is the contraction and means only "it is" or "it has." So "it's brutal" is correct; "it's violence" and "it's fast storry telling pace" is not (in these contexts you're using "it's" as a possessive pronoun [no apostrophe]).

Otherwise, your review is right on!


Rosemary Rhew, Springfield, VA (703-658-8728).
So, your only post on the boards is to correct someone's grammar? AND you leave your digits? Boy, that was silly. I mean, you have a point, sure...but....maybe say Hi in the intro thread first?
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The Fabulous Sausage Man
I thought it was all right, but it's hardly a masterpiece like Raging Bull, etc is. It's more of a Cape Fear or Colour Of Money kind of film.



I really don't think they Hong Kong version gets enough credit. I hate it when remakes become more popular or accredited cuz often the original just doesnt get anything. I would think the new director puts a new spin on things, but its a REMAKE. they original intentions and stuff were always there. It just irks mne,



I think it's one of the best films of last year....and I must say I liked it a lot better than both The Aviator and Gangs of New York.
It had a solid script, excellent cast, it was very stylish, entertaining, fun - but it's no Raging Bull or Casino, which is why it's sort of a shame he won the Oscar this year (which obviously means a lot to him)....instead of when he was at his artistic prime in the 70s, 80s and early 90s.



In the Beginning...
My foot tastes good...

But honestly, who saw that one coming?
Well, you can at least take solace in the fact that if there was one Oscar category The Departed had no business winning (much less getting nominated for), it was Best Supporting Actor.