The Departed

'Nothing has Departed from Scorcese'

When reading this review, know that I have never been a huge Scorcese fan. Scorcese's films have always been artistically and visually interesting, but the story or the characters have always been so despicable that I could never truly connect. I have always respected him as an artist, but if forced to choose between his earlier work or an early Paul Hogan film, well...Dundee was a childhood hero. So know that when I say that the recent film The Departed is a film that will probably be one of the top three films of this decade, I am positively sure of this. I have not seen a more perfect blend of artistic directorial talent, acting, plot, and cinematography in a long long time. On one hand, I would love for Scorcese to join the ranks of Kubrick by never winning an Academy award, but I'm afraid he's screwed. I can safely reveal that there is no way in this universe that Scorcese will not win the best director category this year at the Oscars. My only concern is that Little Miss Sunshine SAG award when it was completely inferior to the cast of this film.

First of all, the directing. Scorcese pulls out all stops on this American remake. Scorcese has always been good at highlighting gangster films, but usually Italian. In this film he tackles the Irish mob in Boston, which works perfectly. Scorcese ties the story in to the location of Boston and the whole Irish and Catholic scene so profoundly that Boston will now be forever remembered for this movie and not just for the Celtics basketball team. Howard Shore only makes the bond deeper with his incredible use of Irish jigs and drinking punk songs to tie in the action and location at all times. Scorcese uses excellent editing skills in accord with solid direction to keep the twists fresh and riveting. He also uses the editing to create a compare and contrast between Frank Costello's two "sons" played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. The lighting is beautiful and Scorcese keeps the violence pumping and fierce without a ton of brutality. Even though there is more death in this film, the violence on screen is less brutal than the few hardcore bits found in Pan's Labryinth, a feat which is laudable and an achievement for Scorcese. The most interesting directorial pieces are the parts where he uses a circular matte in the frame to focus all of the attention on to a certain character to show how small and inconsequential either the character is or how they feel, such as feeling trapped. The opening is also well done with the old-footage of Boston's neighborhoods and Nicholson's voice over. I recommend that Michael Ballhaus (the cinematographer) and Scorcese work together forever. Especially on anything with a gritty urban feel.

In a rare turn, I would like to applaud the casting director for the film. The cast could not have been more perfect. DiCaprio has earned the right to be perhaps the best working actor in Hollywood in this film. Matt Damon flexes his muscle. Nicholson pumps his evil crazy vilain routine to the extreme. Hell, even Mark Wahlberg whom typically comes across as cold and indifferent in a lot of his films puts in an amazing performance. Martin Sheen and Vera Farmiga and Alec Baldwin round out the cast to create a perfect collaborative feel. None of the main actors steals too much time. Each character has his own motives, each and every one of them and they are all brought across vividly by the energy in herent in the language of roughneck Irish Boston. The range in accents among the actors varies wildly but the best are held down by DiCaprio and Wahlberg. The only actor who doesn't seem to fit in is Anthony Anderson, mostly due to his previously overwhelming association to comedies. Yet, he is passable for such a small part and doesn't detract from the film. I have heard talk of a possible sequel to the film and if that's true then they need Scorcese, Ballhaus, Ellen Lewis (casting director), William Monahan (screenwriter), Howard Shore (composer), and whatever surviving characters actors they decide to use.

Conclusion:
I refuse to talk about Monahan's script since I don't want to reveal any potential plot details. The jist is that the plot is amazingly transformed and molded to Boston perfectly. The Irish dialogue and the look into each character's lives and issues is perfect. Everyone is risking so much that everybody and detail matters. The directing and acting and cinematography make this film a nice shot of cocaine to film junkies. This film will surely be one of the next great films and should be one of the strongest from this decade. It's too bad that Scorcese is so old that it is unknown how many more films he has left in him. Just let him finish the two supposed sequels to this film God. If nothing else, rejoice knowing that Scorcese should definately win that long overdue Oscar come Friday.

4.9 out of 5

Wannabe