THE DEPARTED

This film has gotten incredible reviews and people love it. It has been described as Scorsese's best work, and one of the best films of the year. This is not correct.

I love Scorsese and will see anything he makes. This film is well made and very well acted. These are a couple of the only redeeming qualities this film has to offer though. Scorsese's classic style is not present here. The film is different because it does not revolve wholly around a single character. There is an incredible ensemble cast that all become wrapped up in this story. Everyone is involved one way or another. The story premise sounded incredibly intriguing to me at first; a cop infiltrating the mob, and a mobster infiltrating the law force. It seemed like there was a lot of potential here. Maybe there was, and maybe it was missed. At least, I felt like it was missed. There seemed to be too many people involved and the story could not focus on anyone’s personal journey enough, which is when Scorsese shines. He is so good at telling a characters personal journey through struggle. I was looking for more of this in The Departed.

The list of quality actors in this film goes on. It is a great group of characters that all bring a very different personality to the story. Alec Baldwin blew me away. He was so funny and powerful at the same time. A very “Boston” character. Leonardo DiCaprio also prevailed in his role as Billy Costigan, the undercover cop struggling to keep it together and stay alive. Matt Damon plays the opposite character, and does a good job as well. I wanted the two actors to switch characters though. It seems like that would have fit the story better, and I would be curious to see how the film would have come across then. Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen all do a superb job in their roles as well.

The film was shot with an established eye. No details were left out. The shots were pleasing. The characters’ emotions were caught just right. There just wasn’t a lot of emotion to catch. I did not feel too attached to any of them really. The only character that I cared about by the end of the film was Costigan, played by DiCaprio. He had the most character development of anyone, and was the only one that seemed like a real person; not just a character. The story moves quickly despite the long runtime. Things just keep happening. I found that I wasn’t ever too curious to see what happened next. It could have ended at any time and I would not have known the difference. There is very little time when anyone is alone on screen. This lack of intimacy with the characters is part of why there exists this previously mentioned disconnect. The struggles that people face are often so much more apparent when they are alone. Costigan and Damon’s character, Sullivan, are the only ones in which the viewer shares much intimacy so their characters develop more than the others.

The music did not impress me because it often seemed inappropriate. There were several times that it really took me out of the film, and I was once again just sitting in a theatre watching a movie. The viewers want music that wraps them up in the story and keeps them there.

This film is well directed by Scorsese, but does not follow too much of his usual style. As far as it being his best? I say far from it. It was a fun film, but it seemed rushed and never really got to a point. Superfluous deaths, an out of place soundtrack, and poor character development put The Departed lower on my list for the year. The film is well acted by a strong assembly of actors that made it fun to watch.


GRADE: B-
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thedeparted/