The Departed

I was really looking forward to this. Power. But maybe too much. The Departed is certainly not a bad film, but from beginning to end I couldn’t get rid of the impression that it's primarily a film that drags on and is unnecessarily long. Yet the number of minutes (the great Casino is even longer, whilst the absolutely fantastic The Irishman is even longer than Casino) is not the problem, but rather what they are filled with. I don't know the original, but it's three quarters of an hour shorter, and I wouldn't be surprised if all that seemed boring or unnecessary here was the work of William Monahan and Martin Scorsese. (26/02/2021)

At the blessed age of sixty-four, Martin Scorsese delivers a gangster flick so precise that his colleagues a generation younger can only be quietly envious. The 150-minute trip amongst the highest police and mafia brass is told with incredible ease, the utmost sense of the perversity of both worlds (conveyed through the fatal love of one woman), and an absolutely divine dose of chilling black humor. You won't find an unnecessary movie window in this work, let alone a scene. Scorsese once again stylizes violence as a normal routine aspect of life, which he breaks at the very end only to play lightly with the viewer and show that even he doesn't have to take himself deadly seriously. The cast of the greatest actors is interspersed here, from the riveting DiCaprio to the relaxed Damon (any talk of overacting is bullshit!), the diabolical Nicholson, and to the absolutely brilliant Mark Wahlberg. Everything is underlined by stylish musical accompaniment, starting with Pink Floyd and ending with the thrilling punk blast of Dropkick Murphys. After finishing the film, I had only one desire: to watch this concentration of perfection again! (12/11/2006)

Four stars for that beautifully dry ending, but as a whole it didn’t really thrill me. There are a lot of big names, but the best is DiCaprio, he’s really unlikeable, but his performance is great. His antagonist, Matt Damon, in contrast, is a jerk at times, not because he’s bad, but because I didn’t find him believable in the role. The story moves along quite slowly, there aren’t any proper turns until about the middle and before that, you have to put up with a lot of dialogues that are supposed to be vulgar, dirty and tough, but they are clearly fake and forced. For me, The Departed deserves 75%. (27/08/2008)

This arrogant, self-absorbed mainstream ride is supposed to be the best film of this year that has won so many Oscars and other awards? I can't believe it. Martin Scorsese should wake up to the reality of today's world after those beautiful years and understand that “American” stories of tough guys are no longer in fashion and he should stop trying to replicate or hint at the unattainable pieces of his past work. The quality of The Departed, whether it is a good or a bad remake, can only be judged by someone who has seen both films, which I am not, so I take this film as a separate compact entity without any comparisons or regret about how it should have been. However, as a crime story, it is insufficient. There is an excessive amount of vulgarity, with a good half of it being unnecessary. The plot is far-fetched – tough guys, tough lines, shootings every day – just a normal day in the big city. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but this is really overdone and off-putting. For fans, it may be an entertaining film that shows Scorsese makes movies for fun and doesn't worry too much about it, but for the overwhelming majority of rational-minded laypeople, it's just a typical American hyped-up ride without a trace of real subtext. And the Oscar “for merits” is quite laughable considering the previous works of the famous film connoisseur. (28/07/2007)

It’s against nature, but Marty is getting younger. This is the kind of fucking entertaining film that even a young kid in the director’s chair wouldn’t be ashamed of. Those almost two and a half hours passed by like water. In the case of the ensemble cast, it's pointless to comment on DiCaprio and Nicholson, they're chapters unto themselves, so I'll just single out the much-maligned Damon (that perfect smarmy crooked character, I can't imagine it could have been played any better) and especially Wahlberg (!!!), whose brilliantly written lines were a joy to listen to, and his banter with Baldwin made me laugh out loud. After the screening, I remembered Steven Spielberg's words that he "doesn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore and just wants to have fun with movies", I feel the same way about The Departed. I probably wouldn't give Scorcese an Oscar for it, in the context of his previous, albeit more notable work (if does get it, it will be mainly "for merit"), but it's gratifying that underneath the skin of the grey professor emeritus, there's still that old familiar rebel from the days of Mean Streets and Taxi Driver :) (19/11/2006)