The Departed

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise in Martin Scorsese's multiple Oscar-winning crime thriller, including Best Director and Best Picture. While an undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) curries favor with the mob kingpin (Jack Nicholson), a career criminal (Matt Damon) rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

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» Recommended for 95 people

» Reviewed by 21 people

Scorsese, with 20/20 hindsight in this remake of Internal Affairs, not only fails to enhance, but released the tautness of the original, by, among other things, padding it with 50 mins of extra material. Those at the end of the movie are particularly disappointing, ending in a cliched, sour note.
- WL 1557014

I love this movie, but found some seems hard to watch due to chppy editing. I'm a big mafia movie and of Irish heritiage so how could I not like it. The acting is great. Everyone did an outstanding job. There are a couple seems I found a little cheesy or just didn't feel like they fit, but in the end this is one of the few movies I found myself wanting to go back to the theatre and watch again.
- BrianMurray

It was okay, but I mean, did anyone even watch Infernal Affairs? How can people cry Oscar at this when this is a shot-for-shot carbon copy, just in a different culture? Don't get me wrong, the acting is outstanding, and it is very entertaining. But the better parts of Infernal Affairs (most notably the cell phone scene) were cut down, and the cinematography in the original was far superior. Also, it's been awhile, but I believe The Departed modified the ending, which, without spoiling it, makes the movie almost laughable. Find a great foreign film, then give any bloke a big studio budget and an extremely talented cast to "remake" it (as if it needed remaking)...I'm sure it'll get similar acclaim. Sigh, are there no more original ideas in Hollywood?
- Steve Shin

This is a good movie but the ending........... you'll have to watch it yourself, and I recommend you do.
- cbs 818616

A very entertaining film, The Departed is also incredibly over-rated. Scorsese is long past his prime, and while The Departed is not a bad movie, it certainly does not rank amongst his best, let alone worthy of Best Picture. The acting (and cast) does a nice job moving the story along without any hiccups, and the cinematography is sufficient. Case and point, when the credits role, the film does not match the name Scorsese.
- C. Eng

UnderWhelmed by it. The acting was fine but the story rambled and wasn't well put together
- TE 1446374

One word: Overrated Big name actors + big name director does not guarantee a great movie. "The Departed" is proof. It would have been just as good with no name actors, no name director, and a budget probably 1/10th of what they spent. Clearly, Scorsese's 'Best Movie' award was a retroactive "Lifetime Achievement" award and should not imply that 'The Departed' is anywhere close to Oscar worthy.
- AB 1890122

This entertaining crime film is only soured (for me) by the fact that Scorsese can do this film in his sleep. A great cast walked away with not nearly enough awards for this film.
- TroyJ15

Loved it then hated it. Up until the last 10 minutes or so of the film, this was on its way to being in my top five films of all time. I don't throw that around loosely either. Someone really screwed the pooch on the ending here. I could live with lead characters dying, it happens, and in some stories it has to, but the way it happened here just made me angry. I felt like whoever wrote the ending just got tired and somepoint and said, .....and then he dies, the end. What the crap? Still a great movie, but will always leave a sour taste in my mouth over the ending.
- Walter Dalton

It's a bit convoluted and confusing but for good reason: the relationships in this film are developed to be extremely complex.
- devinreams

In a way this is Scorsese's best film; he said it was his "first movie I have ever done with a plot." And that's true. He took all the major plotpoints and themes of a great HK movie and then made the movie his own. Between the two you can see the differences between the styles of storytelling between East and West. The acting is very good (although Nicholson is ridiculously over the top), the technical parts all are great, and the story is significantly more fleshed out with the extra 50 minutes. What keeps this from being a 5-star film? It is technically rooted and does not speak at a deeper level. It is expertly done but not artfully done. To me all that was seen the first time was all there was. Also, does no one in Boston use the Vibrate feature on their cell phone?
- Dan the Karateka

Martin Scorsese has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Director category five times, but he has never won. He will certainly and deservedly be nominated a sixth time for The Departed, and I hope he wins. This film is perfectly directed, perfectly acted, and nearly perfectly scripted. Its length is nearly 2 1/2 hours, but doesn't feel long. It's gritty and real and stripped down in all the ways that count. It's taut and suspenseful and fascinating. In the desert of 2006 films, this is the oasis, easily and without question the film of the year, and the measure by which all other films for the remainder of 2006 will be judged and found lacking. Don't rent this. If you can, see it in the theater. If you can't, fork out the 20 bucks and purchase it. I know I will.
- LB in Idaho

This was a fine film, and the actors did a great job, Scorsese is a fine director, yadda yadda yadda. I still do not see what the big deal is for one reason - it's an almost scene for scene remake of Infernal Affairs, which I also enjoyed. I have no problem with Scorsese doing a remake (hey without remakes we'd have no Magnificent 7). But to suggest it's his best work, or worth all the Oscar hype is a bit much. Then again, since most people didn't see the original, I guess it doesn't matter. Still, it was very entertaining even if I knew what was going to happen.
- n-judah

Oh my God! Even at two-and-a-half hours, this one moved at a brisk pace. It deserved all of the attention it got from the viewing public and the Academy. I cant even single out one performance as better than another. DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholson, Sheen, Wahlberg, Baldwin---all turned in some fine work on this one. But, it was the story churning its way to its inevitable, though still surprising, conclusion that kept me glued to the screen. Not a film for the kiddies. Not even for some overly sensitive adults. The most brutal and deadly plot resolution since RESERVOIR DOGS. I loved this one and it goes immediately to the top of the five-star list.
- Firewater

Easily the best gangster film since Goodfellas. The cinematography is amazing, the opening twenty minutes are a highly refined montage sequence that is near perfect. It’s pretty standard Scorsese, blurring the lines of morality, confronting organized religion, moralizing the darker side of the human psyche. It’s a flawed film, but what is working in it is working so well that nothing else matters. Great performances, great soundtrack, great screenplay (though if you watch Infernal Affairs you’ll realize that Monahan really did very little in the screenplay, the lines are often lifted verbatim), overall a great film. It is the pinnacle of the Scorsese/DiCaprio work, at least thus far.
- Dlukenelson

Many of the Hollywood Heavyweights are in this one. At times I thought (and you have to think a lot in this one) that the plot was a little complicated and attempting to be too clever for its own good. There definitely were some surprising moments, which I like to see in a movie. Overall, the performances by Damon, DiCaprio, Nicholson and Marky Mark Wahlberg made it an enjoyable movie.
- Cleve1212

WARNING: Minority opinion follows: You know, I generally like mob movies. I loved the first two Godfather movies and thought GoodFellas with DeNiro and Ray Liotta was great. So considering the director and cast of The Departed along with the numerous nominations and awards this flick has garnered, I knew I was in for something special. Or I thought I knew. See, the cast and acting are top-notch in this flick. I love several of the names in this one, especially Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and DiCaprio. The “supporting” cast of Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen (among others) rounded out the cast wonderfully. And the directing was outstanding as individual characters were completely believable and all had details and depth that a great actor can have when directed so well. Individual scenes were also very rich with detail and at times, there’s a subtle and organic humor I appreciated. But this movie can be complicated. It’s not so much the general story that’s complicated; it’s more the transitions from point A to point B. Watching this movie can be like trying to follow someone in a car that doesn’t particularly care if you are actually able to follow them or not. As they speed through yellow lights, roll through stop signs or weave in and out of the fast lane you try your best to keep them in sight but curse them as they disappear around every corner. This choppiness might be a result of bad editing but who am I to criticize the editing of a movie that so many other people find so good. Maybe it was just me. Finally, this is a long movie. At about 2 1/2 hours, you’re ready for this flick to end when the conclusion finally does arrive. Fortunately the ending isn’t boring and probably not what you’d expect. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that’s a good thing. Let’s just say the movie didn’t end as I would have liked it to.
- Creeper

From the opening strains of the music Scorsese throws you into the film and it's almost impossible to catch your footing. The film is full of energy and the storytelling is ferocious. It's hard not to be engaged in it and the 2 hours fly by. Tension hangs over every scene and Scorsese does a masterful job of orchestrating the levels. He is such a skilled filmmaker that it feels effortless, almost like he's just going through the motions. There is a scene featuring text messaging that would make Hitchcock envious. Yes it's entertaining, almost to a fault. It's so much fun to watch that it feels like it's missing a depth found in other Scorsese films and if that's the case, then who really cares? If it's just an entertaining movie than it succeeds completely. It has the same qualities that the entertaining films of the 40's had in that it appears to simply take joy in telling a story, and given a lot of the films that are made this seems to be a difficult feat. But just as the films of the 40's were later reevaluated and the auteur theory was born Scorsese's handwriting is all over the film. His worlds are dominated by guilty men, the women they hope will save them, and the fear of betrayal. The Departed is not a world looking for redemption as Scorsese's other movies, but rather a world suffocated in guilt. His films are about people trapped in their lives and in their roles who want to get out. This one is a bit more nihilistic in that both men are quite literally trapped in their roles, but where getting out doesn’t offer much more hope. Schoonmaker’s editing is seamless and intricately woven. Acting wise Damon and Wahlberg are both convincing in their parts, Nicholson is a bit over the top but since his scenes are limited it works, but it's Dicaprio whose character can barely house his secret, who is on the verge of complete destruction that is the real force. In every glance while playing his "part" you can see and feel the anxiety that's simmering inside him.
- Paul Logan

ireviewnetflix.com rating: **** This was better than I thought it was going to be as I'm not normally into this guy stuff, but it was such a strong story and so well done. Matt Damon is my husband and Mark Wahlberg was my first love (he turned me gay, I swear to God, it's all his fault), but Jack Nicholson is the most overrated actor in Hollywood and I don't like him at all and I'm indifferent to Leonardo DiCaprio, always have been and always will be. I will give the movie this: talk about an ending! I mean, wow!
- ireviewnetflix.com

Worthy of its Best Picture nomination. Leonardo and Nicholson are excellent in their roles. Check out the Hong King version, if you love this, to experience the original!
- T-Bone

This movie would have been good had I not seen it already. I didn't realize that The Departed was a remake of the Chinese movie Infernal Affairs until I started watching it. Once I figured out how I already knew the plot before it happened, this movie just annoyed me. The only things added to the story are 50 unnecessary minutes and Jack Nicholson. For a faster and better version, watch the original. While the performances are actually pretty good, this remake just proves once again that creative thought in Hollywood is dead.
- pterosaur