untitled
THE DEPARTED
Directed by: Martin
Scorsese
Internet Movie
Database Entry for full details
GRADE: B+ (3.0/4)
2006.
What substantiates
Scorsese's reputation as a great director is not merely his knack for
storytelling, character, and setting, but the way he makes his movies. In his greatest moments, like the fast-motion black
and white of Raging Bull,
or the voice-overed slow motion of Taxi
Driver and Bringing
Out the Dead, his thematic concerns are expressed through personal
stylistic flair, through the images on the screen. His latest
film, The Departed,
has a great story and screenplay that deals with an undercover policeman who
infiltrates the mob and a mole for the mob infiltrates the police
force. It is a strongly cynical portrait of America in which
the crooks and local and federal governments are all in
cahoots. It also has a fantastic cast from which Scorsese
gets a collection of exceptional performances, particularly those of
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, who stops short of literally chewing the scenery but
not the flies buzzing about his head, and Vera Farmiga.
But it’s not a directatorial tour-de-force as one would hope
(or have been lead to believe from the critical praise), and for that
it is a downright disappointment. Scorsese sits back and plays it by
the books, trying to let the screenplay fill the leading role that he
himself would ordinarily play. Well, Sidney Lumet could have
done that – this is a Scorsese film, man! Whenever
he does try to add a little personal flourish to the proceedings they
feel half-hearted, as though the film were directed by some young
imitator. It is only in the final reel (of many reels) that
the film gets itself together, but by then too much opportunity has already been squandered.
In the end, the film is a real let-down – not because it
isn’t good, because it is, but because it could’ve
been great. -- Henry Stewart
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