Tonight: yet another movie review, since nothing has happened in the last few days to my life that would be interesting enough to write about.
THE DEPARTED
I had mixed feelings going into this one. For starters, there was the fact that its a remake. While I haven't seen Infernal Affairs (I did order a copy a week ago, though, so I should be posting my thoughts about it at a later date), I've been burned by watching enough Hollywood films that completely fuck over their foreign inspirations. Granted, Martin Scorsese was directing it, but that too was a cause for concern. Don't get me wrong, I'm crazy for Scorsese. The way I see it, the man could have decided to stop making films after Raging Bull, and he would still be a legend. Look at this way: often times when people discuss the tragicomedy that is Michael Jackson's life, a commonly expressed sentiment is "hey, even if he is a freak, he DID make Thriller, so let's cut him slack". By that logic, Martin Scorsese should be able to own thermonuclear weapons. The man should be able to annihilate Lichtenstein and then walk down the street chainsawing limbs off for an encore, and not have to face prosecution or censure. Why? Because the man made Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. If I ever created anything as artistically vital and potent as any of those 3 films, I can guarantee that I would be a colossal asshole. The problem with a legacy like that, though, is that it proves practically impossible to live up to. People constantly yearn for him to go back to the good old tough crime films; when I read early reviews of The Departed, virtually every critic said something to the effect "best film he's done since Goodfellas, a real return to form". I never trust that kind of talk. It's like when music critics announce that every Radiohead album released since Kid A is a "return to guitar rock" and it never is. In this case, though, the hype is justified: The Departed is a film riddled with minor flaws, but it still stands head and shoulders over everything else Scorsese has made in years.
I'll start with the positives. The cast was excellent (with the exception of Jack Nicholson; more on that later). I'll admit to being a former member of the Fuck That DiCaprio Guy club. His performance in The Departed made me turn in my key to the clubhouse. He plays a double agent the way a double agent should be played: plagued with anxiety and paranoia, popping pills left and right, and looking like a total wreck (and in spite of that, still conveying enough charm and strength to fool the people around him into thinking he's competent and trustworthy). Matt Damon, playing the black knight to DiCaprio's white knight, plays his character less spooked-out and more snake-like, a greedy and ambitious social climber who has the unctuous charm of a teacher's pet. Both of the leads are perfectly cast. The supporting cast, though, really makes the film. Martin Sheen and Ray Winstone are both excellent, and Alec Baldwin continues to prove that he may be the Zen master of taking a small role and making it go over big with an audience (Exhibit A: Glengarry Glenn Ross); he dominates every scene he's in, unless he is sharing it with Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg continues to impress me; ever since I saw him in I Heart Huckabees (which was a pretty unmemorable film, with the exception of Wahlberg's performance as an angry fireman), I've started to suspect him of being a better actor than most give him credit for. He gets a lot of the best lines in the film, and plays his character so well that I really wished he had more screen time (and I suspect that like Dickens, Wahlberg was paid by the word for his performance in The Departed; in this case, the $$$ word was 'cocksucker'). With the exception of Jack, everyone was at the top of their game in this film.
The biggest problem with The Departed was Jack Nicholson. First off, he just isn't convincing as an Irish mobster. In a film where EVERYONE has a thick Boston accent, Nicholson sounds like he just hopped off a plane from New York, and HE'S supposed to be the leader of an Irish mob. Problem #2: he just isn't very scary. Even at his most demented, Jack has an affable quality to him. At best, he's creepy, in a dirty old man kind of way, but I can't see him smashing somebody's head in with a hammer or blowing up a bus full of kids (which he doesn't do in this movie, so don't cry spoiler, folks). A mobster should have a menacing aura to them, something that shows why the people around him respect and fear him as much as they do. Frankly, Ray Winstone, who plays NIcholson's second in command, would have been a much better choice as the mob boss than Jack. Jack is too much of a personality actor: at this point in his career, he is completely incapable of playing anybody who isn't Jack Nicholson. And when Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson, he gets a hankering for some scenery-chewing, and he chews away in this film. The Departed works well because the other actors take things seriously, and really manage to convey how heavy the stakes are in the story. Jack is too hammy, too kooky, too goofy for this movie. He would work much better in a comedy about a gangster; in that kind of film, his crazy eyebrows and penchant for animal-print clothing would be seen as pitch-perfect parody. In The Departed, those aesthetic choices make him a liability, and upset the film's tone.
Other beef with the film: Damon does a fine job with his character, but the character wasn't written very well. Whereas DiCaprio's character Costigan has a backstory, motivation, and nuance, Damon's sneaky Sullivan is a blank slate. Towards the end of the film, they try and make his relationship with Jack's character come off as a father-son type of bond, but it doesn't work, because nothing in the writing (save for the beginning of the film) gives off any indications of that kind of sentiment. There's a love triangle in this film which just doesn't work; it feels shoe-horned into the story structure, as though the studio was too worried that female viewers wouldn't pay to see a 2+ hour film about cops'n'robbers without a little romance. My only other complaint: I wish Scorsese would have spent a bit more time showing the local flavor of Boston and how the Irish mobsters live. In his mafia films, one got a real insight into the lives of the made men, how they interacted with each other, what they did when they were off the clock. In The Departed, one doesn't get that kind of intimacy with Jack's gang, and maybe that's just due to the fact that Scorsese is in foreign territory; at least with Goodfellas, Marty had his Little Italy background to go off on as a point of cultural reference.
What went over real well in this film: the introduction, for starters. Note: for anyone reading this and who hasn't seen The Departed yet, do NOT miss a minute of it. The first ten minutes of the film lay out the groundwork for the entire story and convey crucial information about the two leads, so don't show up to the film late. I have to respect a film that has the balls to not even show the title of the film until its ten minutes deep into the story. The use of music, a combination of Stones tunes and Irish punk, fits well with the story. The writing was great: vulgar, quick-witted, and dense. It's also a film fillled with surprises; while there were some plot twists and shocks that I could see coming from a mile away, there were several things that happened that caught me completely off guard. I also love the tone of the film: like most great noir films, The Departed has a feeling of impending doom hanging over its characters, the sense that fate is tying a noose around all their necks and they're just too focused on their business to see it happening. As for the ending... the last 20 minutes of The Departed are as close as a director can hope to get to complete perfection. I hate to use a phrase as overused and fucking trite as "rollercoaster ride", but it describes the last half hour of The Departed perfectly. Scorsese lifts up the expectations and hopes of the viewers, and then fucks with them over and over again.
I strongly urge you to see The Departed. If I had to kick a puppy to convince you to see The Departed, I probably would. As big studio films go, I can't see anything else coming out this year that can match it for its style, its masterful construction, and for its myriad pleasures. Even a hamfisted actor like Nicholson can't torpedo a film this good. Is it as good as Scorsese's earlier works? Fuck no. But then again, what is?
THE DEPARTED
I had mixed feelings going into this one. For starters, there was the fact that its a remake. While I haven't seen Infernal Affairs (I did order a copy a week ago, though, so I should be posting my thoughts about it at a later date), I've been burned by watching enough Hollywood films that completely fuck over their foreign inspirations. Granted, Martin Scorsese was directing it, but that too was a cause for concern. Don't get me wrong, I'm crazy for Scorsese. The way I see it, the man could have decided to stop making films after Raging Bull, and he would still be a legend. Look at this way: often times when people discuss the tragicomedy that is Michael Jackson's life, a commonly expressed sentiment is "hey, even if he is a freak, he DID make Thriller, so let's cut him slack". By that logic, Martin Scorsese should be able to own thermonuclear weapons. The man should be able to annihilate Lichtenstein and then walk down the street chainsawing limbs off for an encore, and not have to face prosecution or censure. Why? Because the man made Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. If I ever created anything as artistically vital and potent as any of those 3 films, I can guarantee that I would be a colossal asshole. The problem with a legacy like that, though, is that it proves practically impossible to live up to. People constantly yearn for him to go back to the good old tough crime films; when I read early reviews of The Departed, virtually every critic said something to the effect "best film he's done since Goodfellas, a real return to form". I never trust that kind of talk. It's like when music critics announce that every Radiohead album released since Kid A is a "return to guitar rock" and it never is. In this case, though, the hype is justified: The Departed is a film riddled with minor flaws, but it still stands head and shoulders over everything else Scorsese has made in years.
I'll start with the positives. The cast was excellent (with the exception of Jack Nicholson; more on that later). I'll admit to being a former member of the Fuck That DiCaprio Guy club. His performance in The Departed made me turn in my key to the clubhouse. He plays a double agent the way a double agent should be played: plagued with anxiety and paranoia, popping pills left and right, and looking like a total wreck (and in spite of that, still conveying enough charm and strength to fool the people around him into thinking he's competent and trustworthy). Matt Damon, playing the black knight to DiCaprio's white knight, plays his character less spooked-out and more snake-like, a greedy and ambitious social climber who has the unctuous charm of a teacher's pet. Both of the leads are perfectly cast. The supporting cast, though, really makes the film. Martin Sheen and Ray Winstone are both excellent, and Alec Baldwin continues to prove that he may be the Zen master of taking a small role and making it go over big with an audience (Exhibit A: Glengarry Glenn Ross); he dominates every scene he's in, unless he is sharing it with Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg continues to impress me; ever since I saw him in I Heart Huckabees (which was a pretty unmemorable film, with the exception of Wahlberg's performance as an angry fireman), I've started to suspect him of being a better actor than most give him credit for. He gets a lot of the best lines in the film, and plays his character so well that I really wished he had more screen time (and I suspect that like Dickens, Wahlberg was paid by the word for his performance in The Departed; in this case, the $$$ word was 'cocksucker'). With the exception of Jack, everyone was at the top of their game in this film.
The biggest problem with The Departed was Jack Nicholson. First off, he just isn't convincing as an Irish mobster. In a film where EVERYONE has a thick Boston accent, Nicholson sounds like he just hopped off a plane from New York, and HE'S supposed to be the leader of an Irish mob. Problem #2: he just isn't very scary. Even at his most demented, Jack has an affable quality to him. At best, he's creepy, in a dirty old man kind of way, but I can't see him smashing somebody's head in with a hammer or blowing up a bus full of kids (which he doesn't do in this movie, so don't cry spoiler, folks). A mobster should have a menacing aura to them, something that shows why the people around him respect and fear him as much as they do. Frankly, Ray Winstone, who plays NIcholson's second in command, would have been a much better choice as the mob boss than Jack. Jack is too much of a personality actor: at this point in his career, he is completely incapable of playing anybody who isn't Jack Nicholson. And when Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson, he gets a hankering for some scenery-chewing, and he chews away in this film. The Departed works well because the other actors take things seriously, and really manage to convey how heavy the stakes are in the story. Jack is too hammy, too kooky, too goofy for this movie. He would work much better in a comedy about a gangster; in that kind of film, his crazy eyebrows and penchant for animal-print clothing would be seen as pitch-perfect parody. In The Departed, those aesthetic choices make him a liability, and upset the film's tone.
Other beef with the film: Damon does a fine job with his character, but the character wasn't written very well. Whereas DiCaprio's character Costigan has a backstory, motivation, and nuance, Damon's sneaky Sullivan is a blank slate. Towards the end of the film, they try and make his relationship with Jack's character come off as a father-son type of bond, but it doesn't work, because nothing in the writing (save for the beginning of the film) gives off any indications of that kind of sentiment. There's a love triangle in this film which just doesn't work; it feels shoe-horned into the story structure, as though the studio was too worried that female viewers wouldn't pay to see a 2+ hour film about cops'n'robbers without a little romance. My only other complaint: I wish Scorsese would have spent a bit more time showing the local flavor of Boston and how the Irish mobsters live. In his mafia films, one got a real insight into the lives of the made men, how they interacted with each other, what they did when they were off the clock. In The Departed, one doesn't get that kind of intimacy with Jack's gang, and maybe that's just due to the fact that Scorsese is in foreign territory; at least with Goodfellas, Marty had his Little Italy background to go off on as a point of cultural reference.
What went over real well in this film: the introduction, for starters. Note: for anyone reading this and who hasn't seen The Departed yet, do NOT miss a minute of it. The first ten minutes of the film lay out the groundwork for the entire story and convey crucial information about the two leads, so don't show up to the film late. I have to respect a film that has the balls to not even show the title of the film until its ten minutes deep into the story. The use of music, a combination of Stones tunes and Irish punk, fits well with the story. The writing was great: vulgar, quick-witted, and dense. It's also a film fillled with surprises; while there were some plot twists and shocks that I could see coming from a mile away, there were several things that happened that caught me completely off guard. I also love the tone of the film: like most great noir films, The Departed has a feeling of impending doom hanging over its characters, the sense that fate is tying a noose around all their necks and they're just too focused on their business to see it happening. As for the ending... the last 20 minutes of The Departed are as close as a director can hope to get to complete perfection. I hate to use a phrase as overused and fucking trite as "rollercoaster ride", but it describes the last half hour of The Departed perfectly. Scorsese lifts up the expectations and hopes of the viewers, and then fucks with them over and over again.
I strongly urge you to see The Departed. If I had to kick a puppy to convince you to see The Departed, I probably would. As big studio films go, I can't see anything else coming out this year that can match it for its style, its masterful construction, and for its myriad pleasures. Even a hamfisted actor like Nicholson can't torpedo a film this good. Is it as good as Scorsese's earlier works? Fuck no. But then again, what is?
signalnoise:
I seriously want to see The Departed. We didn't get to it last weekend, and this weekend I got a cold like a punk so we spent most of the weekend on the couch. But it's totally on my list. In fact, there are quite a few fine flicks coming out.
anton:
How come your posts always have a second blank one following them? I'm confused.