Film Review: The Departed @ Empire Theatres – Capitol 7
By the time the title for The Departed appears on screen the audience has already seen documentary footage situating the film in the Boston underworld, two police trainees rising through the system, a childhood ruled by crime, an undercover policeman surreptitiously imprisoned in order to infiltrate an Irish gang, multiple murders, and several classic Jack Nicholson monologues.
In 15 minutes, Martin Scorsese weaves his way through more plot set up than most directors present
in an hour and he does it all with his trademark dynamic camerawork and kinetic editing. In short, the master is back. Returning to the crime genre for the first time since 1995’s Casino, Scorsese finally drags himself out of the overblown Oscar-baiting prestige-picture mode he’s been in since the millennium (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). While it may not quite reach the masterpiece status of his best work, such as Taxi Driver, The Departed is easily the most entertaining and engaging movie Scorsese has produced in more than a decade.
Based on the highly successful Hong Kong crime drama Infernal Affairs, The Departed is one of the few remakes that manages to equal, if not sur, the original. It retains all of the tight plotting and action of Infernal Affairs, while at the same time deepening the characterizations of the protagonists and fleshing out the ing roles. Scorsese has added an extra 30 minutes to the running time, but the final product is so fast-paced that it’s hard to notice.
The story focuses on two young police officers: one, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is working undercover in the mob and the other, played by Matt Damon, is working undercover in the police department for the mob. The first half of the film follows their respective journeys, walking on both sides of the law, until about half way through, when each discovers the other’s existence and begin to pursue the other’s identity. If this sounds confusing and convoluted, do not dismay. Although the plot may demand attention to determine who is double-crossing whom, the storytelling is so smooth and
carefully worked out there’s no room for confusion. Jack Nicholson is cast as the lead gangster, Castello, and has the flashiest role in the script. Psychotic, seductive and unpredictable, Castello is a classic Scorsese villain—as funny as he is terrifying. He relishes the part and gives his best performance since About Schmidt. Although Nicholson may occasionally lapse into the mugging grins and arched eyebrows that have pushed so many of his performances over the top, Scorsese keeps im
on a short leash and it never becomes distracting. Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin each appear in surprisingly small roles as high-ranking police officers, but both take full advantage of their few scenes and give the minor characters a gravity that would have been lost in the hands of lesser actors.
The other two actors who really shine in ing roles are Ray Winstone and Mark Wahlberg.Winstone has been harnessing his tough-guy persona in British gangster films such as Sexy Beast since he debuted as the lead in Alan Clarke’s Scum in 1977. Working with Scorsese for the first time, Winstone channels all the psychopaths of his previous work and is chilling as Castello’s right-hand man. Mark Wahlberg continues to distance himself from his checkered
past (read: The Funky Bunch) by proving to be quite a strong actor. His turn here as the tough, wisecracking detective Dignam is as memorable as his strong work in Boogie Nights and I ♥ Huckabees. Stealing scenes from all the big names in the cast, Wahlberg is a comedic standout in a small role with a big payoff. While all of the above actors are impressive, they all also sport quite recognizable faces. This all-star approach to casting does affect the realism of the piece. The Departed could never match the anthropologic realist approach of Mean Streets or Goodfellas, but Scorsese wisely never attempts this.
The Departed is a traditional crime thriller, filled with white-knuckle suspense sequences and ass-kicking action scenes. Scorsese is clearly having a blast behind the camera. He has no grand ambition beyond entertaining the audience and succeeds irably. William Monahan’s screenplay is filled with great one-liners and ages of black humour that help balance all the gory violence (Nicholson’s darkly comic initiation of DiCaprio, involving asevered hand in a ziplock bag, is particularly effective).
Although some of the second act may drag slightly as a parallel love interest is introduced for the two leads, that shared love interest becomes vital to the plot and is never distracting. The only complaint one could have against Scorsese is that this movie appears slight when compared to his other more
substantial work. But when the results are this entertaining, it is hard to complain. Quentin Tarantino and his many imitators have been having fun with Scorsese’s crime genre for years and it’s about time the old master got a chance to do the same. The Departed is great popcorn filmmaking that still has some brains to go with the brawn.
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