The Departed

I wanted to avoid comparisons with the Asian smash Infernal Affairs, of which The Departed is a remake. But if you know the original, in which the given story is filmed more briskly and more clearly, not a single character in it is a superficial poser (Jack Nicholson), and the Asian visuals are more exotic for a European than the worn-out “gritty America”, there is absolutely nothing stunning about the The Departed. Of course – Martin Scorsese and his court cinematographer are masters at what they do, so the film is never boring for even a second and we get to spend time in the company of the world’s acting elite, from whose characters the director gets maximum psychological enjoyment. But the film as a whole gives the impression that its makers didn’t approach it with as much love as they did The Aviator. Leonardo DiCaprio is the only one who gave his full commitment to the project and put his soul into it. With a few more roles in this vein, I will rank him among my personal top five actors. Otherwise, however, The Departed is merely a solid cops-and-mafia drama that leaves American audiences startled thanks to its ending, which is not what they’re used to from a Hollywood flick. The Departed deserves four stars in the context of current American productions, but definitely not in the context of the director’s filmography. I will gladly watch it again, but I can’t hide my slight disappointment. (27/10/2006)

Until the very end, Scorsese's speedy directing and the great actors manage to disguise the fact that this tale about cops, rats and hidden agents may have too trivial of a plot, in which, unlike Infernal Affairs, there is no room for deeper psychology and surprises. Nevertheless, it is a thriller that can be watched breathlessly and enjoyed at an incredible pace of storytelling. The question is whether it can be watched more than once. (10/08/2008)

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)

And this is an Oscar-winning movie? Marty’s weakest work? Ha ha. I haven’t yet seen Infernal Affairs yet, so I should avoid comparing them. The beginning is boring as hell. Plus, I have nothing against cussing and vulgarity, but too much of a good thing... The screenplay must have been awful for a start and the actors must have agreed to do it just because of Scorsese. And what does the Fox say? “You can’t build on wobbly foundations"? But not to be too critical. DiCaprio is really good and the end is quite interesting for an American movie (but not really, when I remember that the story originates from Asia). (07/08/2007)

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)