The Departed Review

Synopsis:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg star in Martin Scorsese's new crime drama "The Departed."

"The Departed" is set in South Boston where the Massachusetts State Police Department is waging an all-out war to take down the city's top organized crime ring. The key is to end the reign of powerful mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) from the inside. A young rookie, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), who grew up in South Boston, is assigned to infiltrate the mob run by Costello. While Billy is working to gain Costello's trust, another young cop who came up from the streets of "Southie," Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), is quickly rising through the ranks of the state police. Earning a spot in the Special Investigations Unit, Colin is among a handful of elite officers whose mission is to bring Costello down. But what his superiors don't know is that Colin is working for Costello, keeping the crime boss one step ahead of the police.

Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operation he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that they have a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin find themselves in constant danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy -- and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

"The Departed," the gritty crime drama from director Martin Scorsese, takes us into the lives of two cops: Colin Sullivan, smart and unabashedly ambitious, appears to be on the fast track in the Massachusetts State Police Department's elite Special Investigations Unit, whose prime target is powerful Irish mob boss Frank Costello. Billy Costigan, street-smart and tough, is purported to have a violent temper that costs him his badge and eventually lands him back on the rough streets of South Boston, where he is recruited into Costello's ranks. But neither man is what he seems and, as they work at cross purposes, they are plunged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse in which the stakes could not be higher.

The story of "The Departed" is based on the 2002 crime thriller out of Hong Kong called "Infernal Affairs," which achieved great success in Asia before coming to U.S. shores in 2004. An American version was soon in the works, with William Monahan writing the screenplay.

Mini-Review:

Wow, this movie blew me away. I have to say, I was a little worried when I heard about this being made a year or so ago. The movie was said to be a remake of one of my favorite HK films Infernal Affairs. Closer to The Departed's release, I started reading that Martin Scorsese actually took elements from the Infernal Affairs Trilogy. I wasn't to sure about this, but it worked. Also, I haven't been all that impressed with Scorsese's films, since Goodfellas and Casino. Not to say his newer films were bad, just not my cup of tea. I had high hopes for Gangs of New York, but in the end I was let down. Well, the "stomping on your face" Scorsese is back with a vengeance!

Another one of my concerns was the South Boston Irish accents. I know Matt Damon and Marky Mark grew up in Massachusetts, but Leo and Nicholson trying to due this accent scared me. I have to say, I was really impressed with DiCaprio's accent. He pulled it off IMO. As for Nicholson, he didn't even try. He just played a crazy (I do mean nuttso) boss, like only he could. No need for accents here.

The movie is violent and vulgar, but it works. Here's a little IMBD trivia for ya:

"The word "f*ck" and its derivatives are said 237 times throughout the film."

This is the best movie of 2006 in my eyes. I am really itching to go see it again, before it's out of the theaters. The DVD will be in my top 10, once it's released.

Rating: Go see it NOW!

CROSE

UPDATE:

This is from an articale posted on 10/06/06 on KFCCinema:

"The Departed": Too Much Swearing

The word is in on Martin Scorsese's "Infernal Affairs" remake "The Departed" from the only source which really matters - the star of the Hong Kong original, the unaging one himself, Andy Lau. Speaking after the film's Hong Kong premiere, Lau noted that although it used several quotes from the original, it contained far too much bad language, and felt that it went on too long, combining elements from all three films in the trilogy, though the film makers had only paid for the rights for the first episode. When asked to rate the movie, Andy rather generously responded: "I would rate both versions 8 out of 10. I thing I don’t like the most is how they made Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng’s characters into one. I don’t think that the two male characters would like one female. But the remake is ok to watch". So there you have it, Andy has spoken!