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Moriarty Welcomes THE DEPARTED’s Arrival!!
Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
D’ya ever notice how sometimes the critical community starts to sound like a broken record on certain films? Right now, you can read around 5,000 reviews online that all say, with varying thickets of verbiage, that is sure is nice to have Martin Scorsese back in the crime genre where he belongs. While I’m sure he appreciates the enthusiasm of the reviewers, it’s got to sting a little.
I haven’t been crazy about some of his recent films. GANGS OF NEW YORK in particular struck me as a movie that seemed to have too much on its mind, including awards. THE AVIATOR is a beautifully-crafted film, but it’s a biopic, and I always feel with biopics like there’s a cookie-cutter shape to even the best of them.
With THE DEPARTED, Scorsese is working from a screenplay by William Monahan, adapted from a translation of the script for INFERNAL AFFAIRS. Can we go ahead and get all the IA stuff out of the way quickly? Yep, I like the original. I like the sequel to the original even more. I think they are damn fine HK films, although not the genre-defining masterworks that some people seem to think they are. Monahan’s adaptation is both faithful and radical, and there’s no question that he’s written his own film. THE DEPARTED is fall-down funny in places, with some of the best snarling tough-guy dialogue since James Foley’s film version of GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. Monahan’s script takes full advantage of the Boston location that is just one of the things that makes this a very different film from the Scorsese crime movies of old. People who tell you he’s gone backwards to what he’s done before aren’t paying attention. Scorsese intentionally didn’t make an Italian mob movie. This is not the world he grew up around. As Jack Nicholson’s character, Frank Costello, explains during the opening montage of Boston in the ‘70s, Boston belongs to the Irish. “Forty years after we couldn’t find work, we had the White House, may he rest in peace.” He talks about taking whatever it is you want, by whatever force you have to, and that philosophy colors the whole film.
Jack’s first line is one of the film’s juciest, a low growl over news footage of violence. “I don’t want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me.” Watching him live by those words is mesmerizing, and I have to give Scorsese credit... he reigns Nicholson in to remarkable effect in this film. There are very few moments where crazy Jack comes out to gnaw on the scenery, and the moments where it does happen, one could argue that it makes perfect sense for Costello to be acting that way. Jack fits in this world. He doesn’t overpower it as he does in so many lesser films. Wisely, Scorsese and Monahan do not allow him to be the film’s anchor. The emphasis is placed squarely on the two leads, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). No matter what you think of some of their other highly-hyped work, these are talented actors, perhaps the most talented of their generation, and watching them spar for a whole film is electrifying. Even before they cross paths, they’re sending out sparks at each other. Sullivan’s a neighborhood boy who grew up in Costello’s shadow, admiring the great man. Costigan’s the kid who got out, who is smart enough to build a life away from the old neighborhood. They’re both Southies, but the difference is that Sullivan buys into that, allows it to define him, while Costigan doesn’t.
The way Scorsese leads you into the film is a dizzying display of technique, and of course his old collaborators Michael Balhaus (whose cinematography here is stylish and sharp, but never overly-slick) and Thelma Schoonmaker (the editor who has defined the rhythm of his films for a quarter-century now) both bring their A-game to the film. You are assaulted with information as the film opens. We see Sullivan rise through the ranks of the state police, an ambitious young man who is assigned to plain clothes right out of training. He eventually ends up with one of the best assignments in the city, working for the team that is tasked with bringing down Costello. Sullivan works both sides of the fence, carefully climbing the ladder inside the department while also feeding information to Costello and keeping him out of harm’s way. As we see Sullivan take shape, we also see Costigan, just behind Sullivan in training, an angry young man with obvious potential. His intensity catches the attention of Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) and his second-in-comman Sgt. Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), who approach him with one hell of an assignment.
Costigan agrees to it, agrees to let them fire him from the force, charge him with a crime, convict him and send him to jail. He allows them to tear down everything he’s worked for with the idea that when he gets out, he can work his way towards Costello, can work to infiltrate his crew. No one except Queenan and Dignam will know Costigan’s name or face. No one will even know there’s an undercover on the scene. That’s the plan. That’s the life Costigan signs up for. He agrees, and as the Dropkick Murphys suddenly drop into the soundtrack, cranked past the point of pain, the title finally comes up. THE DEPARTED. It’s all laid out for you by that point. You know who the players are. You know why they’re in it. And all that’s left is two hours or so of pure pleasure.
The reason you’re seeing such effusive praise for this one is simple. The film entertains. So often, critics fall over themselves to praise a film because it makes them feel smart, or because it makes them feel like they know something that “the audience” doesn’t, or because it just plain panders to them. With THE DEPARTED, the reactions you’re seeing are because the film works overtime to entertain. This is about as far from an “art” film as you can get. This is a big slice of mainstream Hollywood fare. The original script for INFERNAL AFFAIRS by Alan Mak and Felix Chong is a fiendishly clever bit of business, and this film uses all the best structural tricks and turns. Scorsese must have recognized just how well-built the script was, allowing him to focus all of his energy on giving the actors room to play. He shoots the hell out of this film, but it’s a lesson to hyperactive camera-fetishists like Bay or Tony Scott, because the style never overwhelms. Scorsese knows exactly how to use his camera to draw you into a moment, never smothering the action beneath some clever crane move just for the sake of it. This is precise filmmaking, the sort of thing that only someone of his skill and experience could make look this easy.
It’s been said that on the set of THE GODFATHER, there was a sense among the younger actors that they all wanted to be the one who could “beat” Marlon Brando in a scene. Cazale, Duvall, Pacino, Caan... they all went after Brando, did their best to steal moments from him. And the result is a movie where everyone’s doing their best work.
THE DEPARTED is that same sort of thing. DiCaprio and Damon are obviously having a blast with Nicholson, and watching them deal with him in some of the movie’s crazier moments is half the fun. Alec Baldwin is doing the sort of work he does best, the short supporting role where he gets to come in, kill, and get out. Mark Wahlberg, so good in I HEART HUCKABEES, continues to refine his persona as this crazy bulldog motherfucker to outstanding effect. Martin Sheen’s good, Ray Winstone’s got real weight as Mr. French, Costello’s second-in-command, and David O’Hara (one of those guys who should be better known than he is) is creepy as shit as Fitzy, another one of Costello’s boys. Anthony Anderson must be thanking God that THE SHIELD came along for him, because I’ll bet money that’s what got him the meeting for this. He’s only in a few scenes, but imagine that... Anthony Anderson has played scenes with Damon and DiCaprio with Scorsese directing. Well played, sir.
If anyone’s going to get some traction coming out of this film, it’ll be Vera Farmiga, who got all sorts of attention for her work in 2004’s DOWN TO THE BONE. She plays Madolyn, a psychiatrist who works with men on probation as well as cops after they’ve had to use their weapons. She ends up torn between Costigan and Sullivan, never realizing the game the two men are engaged in, neither of them realizing that they’ve got something so important in common. It’s a reeeeeeeeeally convenient story device, but she manages to make Madolyn seem real, fleshed-out, a woman worth paying attention to. She’s no angel, and she is drawn to the damaged parts in these men, convinced that her baggage and their baggage might all somehow balance out. Her character’s interesting enough that I would have enjoyed a film just about her, about living in that world and trying to stay above it. She’s not just “the girl,” and that’s due in large part to what she brings to the table as an actress, since some women might not have been able to make anything from the role.
I hope this is a big fat hit for Scorsese, just so he can coast a little while on the goodwill that the film deserves to generate. And I don’t give a fuck about its Oscar chances, and to Scorsese’s credit, it doesn’t appear that he had it on his mind while making the film, either. This is, simply put, a good yarn, told well.
What more could you ask for?
”Moriarty” out.
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Martin Scorsese! Hahaha, just kidding. Come on up here, Clint."
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Good as The Departed may be, it still feels like new scorsese trying to be old scorsese. I don't want him to win the Oscar, he's better than that.
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The movie is good.
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I laughed and cried at the same time...
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Damn you Michael Bay
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Wasn't Anthony Anderson in that Saved By The Bell rip-off Hang Time? If so, he certainly has come a long way. I wonder if David Chase fancies casting Screech in The Sopranos?
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Damn you Michael Bay
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Was his realization that he is not a leading man but a supporting, character actor. Given the BO take of some of his starring movies, maybe the studios realized it for him. Whatever, ever since he gave up top billing, he's been doing his best work.
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Great at drama and comedy. I got a chance to see the first episode of "30 Rock" and the guy is freaking hilarious. It's true that he's so much better as a character actor then leading man.
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I love Glengarry Glenn Ross.
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One of the most quotable movie ever. Mamet's best script/play by far. Pacino's tirade against Spacey at the end is legendary. "....you stupid fucking cunt...who told you you could work with MEN, you fairy...." amazing.
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Well, I was already planning on it, but the opening credits are to Dropkick...friggin sweet!
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Just read the last paragraph. Thats all you need.
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Just read the last paragraph. Thats all you need.
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Just read the last paragraph. Thats all you need.
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Reading his original review, it's obvious that he's tainted by his knowledge of Scorsese's concessions to Miramax, and spends too much time talking about what should have been in the movie instead of what actually was. Not that it's a great movie or anything, but it's pretty good, and there are some moments of greatness. Talking about what's not in there is pointless. There's just as much of a chance that the cut scenes would've dragged the thing down anyway. Aviator however is just amazing. And I seem to remember a lot of people whining about how it was so UNLIKE a normal biopic, focusing so much time at the back end on the airline monopoly suit. No other recent biopic got the audience so caught up in how much fun it must've been to be the main character. Until the test flight crash and the decent into madness and all that of course. That said, I couldn't possibly be looking forward to a director returning to form more. If only Marty had used a different Stones track instead of "Gimme Shelter". "Monkey Man" has a killer piano opening, for instance. Or "Can't You Hear Me Knocking".
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The only thing missing was a tune from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, tho the Dropkick Murphy's set the tone perfectly at the start.... Best movie this year. Great job to everyone involved.
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Just fix the problems already guys! These "growing pains" have been going on for months now. I don't know of any other high-profile website that just doesn't care about its upkeep and maintenance as much as AICN seems to not care.
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hey pal --- go fix yer tusk and quit bitching. This site is about as high-profile as Tom Cruise on the shitter.
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This site is extremely well-known, despite your witty comparison.
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... which glitches in particular?
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Well, what I've noticed: posting messages in the talkbacks seems to be a problem, as posts don't show up unless you refresh multiple times, I think this is the reason for all the multiple talkbacks. This hasn't happened for me tonight, so I'm hoping that one's sorted out. Pages also sometimes don't load, giving an error message about a bad portal or something, not sure exactly what it says off-hand. Lastly, pictures attached to certain articles don't seem to load. Quint mentioned that this was being worked on a while ago, so, again, I hope that's sorted. I may have come across as being a tad agressive in my post earlier, but it wasn't my intention - I only bitch because I love.
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DeNiro going toe-to-toe with Nicholson, rather than Martin Sheen... But he dropped out to direct his own movie... Still can you imagine that clash on screen?
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... fair enough. I know that our tech crew has been swamped with all the little ways the site's new software deals with all the demands we're putting on it, and actually running the site while we're working on it has indeed caused many glitches and bugs. We're all ready to get them fixed, and our crew has been doing some really heroic stuff behind the scenes to try and make that happen. Just bear with us a bit longer, and we'll get it squared away. As far as the thing where you have to refresh several times, that's just a cache issue, and there's a wee lag on occasion.
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Thanks for replying, Mori. As long as you guys are aware of the problems and are trying to fix them, I can't ask for more. Explanations always help.
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And I'm in another country and we get stupid distribution delays... Looking forward to this in a month or so... And I'm glad Mori and some of you guys love GLENGARRY GLENN ROSS. "FUCK YOU! THAT'S MY NAME!!!" Priceless.
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Moriarty is the best reviewer (and representative) this site has. Hands DOWN! I am pumped about the Departed. Every time a Scorcese movie comes out I think, "That will be amazing!" and this one really has me geared up. Thanks for the review, Moriarty!
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What's the point in playing cool here? Marty deserves the Oscar, Marty should get the Oscar. And if fucking Haggis and Eastwood score again, I swear to fucking Jesus Camp ....
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I love how Drew's review focuses more on the behind-the-scenes motion he intuits than on the actual film. Who cares whether some actor from The Shield managed to parlay it into a part in a Scorsese movie? How in the hell does that enhance my enjoyment of the movie, and how will it enhance yours? "Well Played, Sir" says Drew, to this brilliant actor whose connections got him all ... connected up. Meanwhile, Drew continues in the AICN tradition of ignoring the movie-going audience, many of whom cannot blithely piss away what it costs to go to the movies these days without feeling a bit of pain if they don't see something worthwhile, and focusing instead on the movie. What the MOVIE "deserves". What the ACTORS "deserve". Never what the audience deserves. THE DEPARTED is a bad movie. It's a money-making piece of crap that Scorsese squeezed out of his ass because he was asked to make a movie that was very "Scorsese", meaning, gangsters, bloody shots to the head, tough-guys making snappy dialogue. It's Scorsese-cliche, and it's obvious Scorsese's heart isn't in it. It's unlikely he wanted to make a Scorsese-hack-piece, but sometimes a guy has to do what a guy has to do to bring in the dough. I don't blame Scorsese for doing what he had to do, but I do blame AICN for joining the hypesters in calling a bad movie Good. That being said, let me point out the bright spots. Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen are fun to watch, but they are supporting characters. The bulk of the movie, and the performances, are not very good, and one doesn't find oneself caring about any of the characters. There's ONE audience shocking moment, but it's not worth sitting through the entire film for.
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This movie....sucked. If it weren't Scorsese, everybody would be screaming about how virtually every main character dies. This movie has no payoff. Movies 101: Characters need to grow. Nobody learns anything, nobody arcs, no message is left resounding. We were wondering if the theatre forgot a reel in the end. It's like the bell was about to ring, and Scorsese hurriedly filled in the last few answers on the Scantron to avoid an "incomplete."
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