Dir: Martin Scorsese
Matt Damon, Leonardo Dicaprio and Jack Nicholson
In The Departed, Martin Scorsese brings Hong Kong hit thriller Infernal Affairs into the down and dirty mean streets of Boston, Mass. Not quite a remake, yet retaining the same set-up and some of the incidents, The Departed differs from its Asian sibling in one big respect. Ultimately, it’s not as good. Matt Damon is Sullivan, Jack Nicholson’s gangland mole within the Boston police service; Leonardo Dicaprio is Costigan, a police mole within our Jack’s crime organization. The cops and mobbers both suspect a rat. But as Sullivan tries to frustrate the police op and identify their plant, Costigan feeds info on Nicholson’s activities while falling apart under the strains of deep cover. The double-handed cat-and-rat scenario is genuinely intriguing and builds to an inevitably edgy finale. As always with Scorsese, though, testosterone comes second to tension and the focus is the slow-burn build-up as Damon, Dicaprio and the cartoonish Nicholson establish their personas and predicaments.
Lacking Scorsese’s usual visual stylism, The Departed has a 1970s grainy-dirty look, far from the sheeniness of Goodfellas or Casino or the period-panache of Gangs of New York. This is more Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Perhaps it’s the second-hand material, but The Departed lacks the crackly energy of Scorsese’s other gangland pics. Only the familiar blend of blood, sweat and Catholicism stands out as a trademark touch. Dicaprio and Damon both excel, surrounded by sterling support, particularly Mark Wahlberg’s foul-mouthed detective and Martin Sheen as Dicaprio’s cop-boss. Nicholson’s contribution is amusing more than menacing (more like his Joker in Batman than Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs or Joe Pesci in Goodfellas) but his powerful presence doesn’t unbalance the film. Both Damon and Dicaprio found his improvisational approach unsettling and this works in giving their characters the edge they need. It was Nicholson’s idea to bring in the rubber appendage which pops up at one point.
The Departed is effective if overlong. A sub-plot where Damon’s girlfriend is also Dicaprio’s police shrink feels contrived and unconvincing. But the set-pieces are as violent as you’d expect. A running gun-battle out-shoots the trade-off in the recent Miami Vice but it’s the suddenness which affects. Best of all though is the nervy scene where Sheen and Dicaprio rendezvous only to be jumped into an hurried escape by the mobsters: it’s a steal from Infernal Affairs but it works here too. That, plus some good (if not always audible) dialogue, and a quality cast working overtime, makes The Departed well-worth seeing. Strong on character and atmosphere, it’s low on major incident, overdoses on c- and f-words, but is always watchable if not fully satisfying. Crashy music and a background soundtrack give the film a beat and rhythm which isn’t otherwise there. But the lack of polish is actually a plus, making it an odd thing – a serious-minded Scorsese gang-flick that hinges on a believe-it-or-not premise. Infernal Affairs spawned two sequels: The Departed has the air of a movie that wants to be taken entirely on its own merits.
