The Departed Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Must see Movie

Brace yourself for this film.... it's a fast-paced, tense, action packed movie which doesnt let up for a minute. My body actually ached afterwards from being tense throughout.

Yes its a remake of Infernal Affairs but the acting and action here are outstanding. I would advise all to see it - one of the best films I've seen in a while, and believe me, I've watched a lot.

Will be better the first time you see this so make sure you're comfortable and definitely try and see it on the big screen before renting/buying.

Wish more people would talk like Dignam (Mark Wahlberg).

Customer Review

I'm tempted to finish my review with the title.However...despite being too long the film has every evidence of having been hastily cut down from something much longer - possibly to get it into the Oscars in time?One of the main problems is the romance,which,apart from being completely unbelievable, appears to have been hacked about by Hannibal Lector.One minute Damon is complaining about his love life and the next his girlfriend has moved in with him.When she does she brings a painting,which 5 minutes later appears back in her old apartment,leading me to suspect this scene was intended for earlier in the movie.There are plenty of other anomilies in the script - lots of characters make statements without ever explaining how they came by this information,etc,etc.This might have worked okay if the pace had been quicker,but the film rather plods along and 45 minutes in I was already checking the time.

Damon and DiCaprio are okay,assuming you like either or both,which I confess I don't,but Wahlberg is absolutely unbelievable as a hard nosed,foul mouthed cop.Martin Sheen is also miscast and maybe he and Alec Baldwin should have swapped roles.Jack Nicholson is okay,not one of his best roles,and he manages to rein in the "Here's Johnny!" overplaying despite some obvious temptations.As for Ray Winstone - well,he still can't do a convincing american accent,nor, judging by this, an Irish one either.I think that's one of the problems of this film - too many well known actors and not enough characters in the character roles.Scorcese usually fills his casts with actors you may not know,but who are perfect for the part.Here he seems to have gone for the whole Hollywood thing of cramming as many names in as he can,whether they're right for the role or not.

Overall,the plots a bit of a mess and yet oddly cliched at the same time.The romantic/sexual interludes are a complete waste of time and would have been better cut from the film and another device found for bringing the two main protaganists into contact with each other.Some nice moments,one or two surprises,but not enough to lift it into the realm of Scorcese's best work and at times I wondered if I was watching the more self indulgent moments from a Michael Mann film.

Some people are saying this is Scorcese's best film since Casino,the film he should have won and Oscar for,but I'd much rather watch Casino again than this.Better than Gangs OF New York,but then what isn't?

Nice soundtrack,though.