The Departed (2006) - movie review
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The Departed, Martin Scorsese's 2006 Academy Award-winning remake of Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs, marks the New York City native's return to the gritty crime drama genre in which he made his mark back in the 1970s.
Instead of turning his cinematic eye on the mean streets of the Big Apple, Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas) explores the dark underside of Boston, Massachussets in a tale about corruption, the rivalry between the Irish and Italian mobs, and internal strife within Boston's law enforcement officers.
Written by William Monahan (Body of Lies, Kingdom of Heaven) and based on the original Infernal Affairs script by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, The Departed features Jack Nicholson as an aging but wily mobster named Frank Costello. Costello (loosely based on the notorious Whitey Bulger) is a menacing yet seductive gangster who early in the film recruits 12-year-old Colin Sullivan (Conor Donovan) into his circle of criminals. (Costello is shaking down a grocery store owner and hitting on the poor guy's daughter as Colin watches in fascination.)
Years later, a now grown-up Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) joins the Massachusetts State Police. On the outside, he projects a squeaky-clean exterior of the ideal state trooper as he aces all his exams and is assigned to the Special Investigations Unit, the unit assigned to investigate organized crime.
In reality, Sullivan is Costello's trusted mole inside the SIU. This allows the mobster to stay one step ahead of SIU heads Capt. Queegan (Martin Sheen) and Staff Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) and their investigations into his criminal enterprises.
But Queegan and Dignam know that SIU has been compromised and recruit Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a police academy recruit with family connections to Boston mobs. They convince Costigan to play the part of a cop gone bad, go to prison, and ingratiate himself with Costello's outfit.
Costigan agrees, and after establishing his bona fides as a former police officer with a criminal record, insinuates himself into Costello's crew of mobsters. Hre participates in various criminal activities, all the while keeping his eyes and ears open to identify Costello's mole in the SIU.
My Take: Although I have seen several of the Scorsese-DiCaprio films in theaters (The Aviator, Shutter Island), The Departed is the only one that I have added to my video library. Cops-versus-mobsters is not a genre that I explore too often, but I heard enough raves about The Departed to get my interest piqued.
For me, the big draw is the stellar cast. In addition to Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon, Sheen, and Wahlberg,The Departed features fine performances by Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, and Vera Farmiga. Whether they're playing cops, gangsters, or their hangers-on/lovers, Scorsese's actors are windows to the good and bad sides of human nature.
The Departed is also one hell of a suspense thriller. The two main antagonists, Costigan and Sullivan, are under a great deal of internal pressure while playing their deceitful game. Costigan, the kid who wants to do good, must commit crimes in order to gain Costello's trust.
Sullivan, too, has to play a mirror role to Costigan. To be an effective mole for Costello, Colin has to do his job as a law enforcement agent in order to get promoted and access into SIU's investigations.
Even Colin's lover, police psychiatrist Madolyn Madden (Farmiga) has secrets of her own once she meets Billy Costigan, who has to see her as part of his probation. Billy and Madolyn begin a clandestine sexual relationship, thus creating another layer of deceit.
The Departed has scenes of graphic violence and what the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board labels "pervasive language." I didn't keep a count of how many times the F-bomb and its derivatives were used in The Departed, but in the IMDb.com trivia entry for the movie, screenwriter Monahan uses "f--k" and related terms 237 times.
(IMDb.com notes that this is the Best Picture winner with the most f-bombs in Hollywood history. I believe that, because Jack Nicholson utters a variant in the first few minutes of The Departed's opening voiceover.)
This, obviously, is not a film for kids or people who are offended by profanity, violence, sexual content, or drug use.
However, if you have a tolerance for films with adult themes and glimpses into the dark side of human nature, watch this engrossiing drama by one of Hollywood's great directors.
Instead of turning his cinematic eye on the mean streets of the Big Apple, Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas) explores the dark underside of Boston, Massachussets in a tale about corruption, the rivalry between the Irish and Italian mobs, and internal strife within Boston's law enforcement officers.
Written by William Monahan (Body of Lies, Kingdom of Heaven) and based on the original Infernal Affairs script by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, The Departed features Jack Nicholson as an aging but wily mobster named Frank Costello. Costello (loosely based on the notorious Whitey Bulger) is a menacing yet seductive gangster who early in the film recruits 12-year-old Colin Sullivan (Conor Donovan) into his circle of criminals. (Costello is shaking down a grocery store owner and hitting on the poor guy's daughter as Colin watches in fascination.)
Years later, a now grown-up Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) joins the Massachusetts State Police. On the outside, he projects a squeaky-clean exterior of the ideal state trooper as he aces all his exams and is assigned to the Special Investigations Unit, the unit assigned to investigate organized crime.
In reality, Sullivan is Costello's trusted mole inside the SIU. This allows the mobster to stay one step ahead of SIU heads Capt. Queegan (Martin Sheen) and Staff Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) and their investigations into his criminal enterprises.
But Queegan and Dignam know that SIU has been compromised and recruit Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a police academy recruit with family connections to Boston mobs. They convince Costigan to play the part of a cop gone bad, go to prison, and ingratiate himself with Costello's outfit.
Costigan agrees, and after establishing his bona fides as a former police officer with a criminal record, insinuates himself into Costello's crew of mobsters. Hre participates in various criminal activities, all the while keeping his eyes and ears open to identify Costello's mole in the SIU.
My Take: Although I have seen several of the Scorsese-DiCaprio films in theaters (The Aviator, Shutter Island), The Departed is the only one that I have added to my video library. Cops-versus-mobsters is not a genre that I explore too often, but I heard enough raves about The Departed to get my interest piqued.
For me, the big draw is the stellar cast. In addition to Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon, Sheen, and Wahlberg,The Departed features fine performances by Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, and Vera Farmiga. Whether they're playing cops, gangsters, or their hangers-on/lovers, Scorsese's actors are windows to the good and bad sides of human nature.
The Departed is also one hell of a suspense thriller. The two main antagonists, Costigan and Sullivan, are under a great deal of internal pressure while playing their deceitful game. Costigan, the kid who wants to do good, must commit crimes in order to gain Costello's trust.
Sullivan, too, has to play a mirror role to Costigan. To be an effective mole for Costello, Colin has to do his job as a law enforcement agent in order to get promoted and access into SIU's investigations.
Even Colin's lover, police psychiatrist Madolyn Madden (Farmiga) has secrets of her own once she meets Billy Costigan, who has to see her as part of his probation. Billy and Madolyn begin a clandestine sexual relationship, thus creating another layer of deceit.
The Departed has scenes of graphic violence and what the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board labels "pervasive language." I didn't keep a count of how many times the F-bomb and its derivatives were used in The Departed, but in the IMDb.com trivia entry for the movie, screenwriter Monahan uses "f--k" and related terms 237 times.
(IMDb.com notes that this is the Best Picture winner with the most f-bombs in Hollywood history. I believe that, because Jack Nicholson utters a variant in the first few minutes of The Departed's opening voiceover.)
This, obviously, is not a film for kids or people who are offended by profanity, violence, sexual content, or drug use.
However, if you have a tolerance for films with adult themes and glimpses into the dark side of human nature, watch this engrossiing drama by one of Hollywood's great directors.
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