The Departed Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)October 6th, 2006
THE DEPARTED
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED is a sprawling crime drama that works, when it does work, mainly as a comedy. Convoluted, confusing and full of fat, the film cries out for a trimmed down version. With about an hour cut from its meandering two-and-one-half hours, the movie could have been more consistently entertaining and worth recommending. But, as released, it just asks too much of the viewers' patience, giving them little in return.
In a terrific cast, which includes half of Hollywood, the film's three stars are Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. DiCaprio and Damon play Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan, a couple of rival moles, who both work for crime boss Frank Costello (Nicholson). Billy is an undercover cop who has infiltrated Frank's gang, while Colin is a police detective who secretly works for Frank. Damon's performance is consistently excellent, as it has been in THE BOURNE series, while DiCaprio plays it a bit too stiff. Nicholson, on the other hand, exaggerates his role so much that you begin to think he thinks he's playing a cartoonish character on another cheesy BATMAN movie. As the film's lone love interest and token female, Vera Farmiga plays a very generic woman who captures the hearts of both Billy and Colin. Although she is supposedly a doctor, she's a pretty pathetic one based on what we see of her.
Laughs come from slapstick moments, as the time that Billy is hit in the eye with a plastic duck by a guy they are trying to whack. Billy grimaces to let us know that the blow really hurt his eye.
The film's dialog is heavy on the literary quotations -- "Heavy lies the crown," etc. -- with frequent notations about the author, lest we miss our English lit lesson. Sometimes the film's overwritten dialog works. In a speech delivered with a fast-paced, machine gun cadence, Captain Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) asks Billy, a new police recruit whose family were all criminals, "Do you want to be a cop or do you want to appear to be a cop?" After one of his few pauses, he adds, "It's a fair question."
Much better than Scorsese's disastrous GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE DEPARTED has its moments, with the long last act being the best part by far. The story's premise has a lot of promise, but the movie was lost during the script development and in the editing room, as it was allowed to drift aimlessly. The movie also suffers from relying on too many unlikely coincidences for key plot twists. For example, if you had secret information, would you put it on your desk for everyone to see? I don't think so.
Finally, I don't want to close this review without giving proper credit to the movie's most important and successful supporting players -- all of the cell phones, which were constantly used for calling and for text messaging. They did their part sleekly and efficiently without the need to try to upstage anyone.
THE DEPARTED runs a needlessly long 2:29. It is rated R for "strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material" and would be acceptable for most teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 6, 2006. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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