Departed: Unter Feinden

Before seeing this, I knew I was in for a treat, given that it's a Scorsese movie, but The Departed was even better than I expected.

The acting is outstanding. Leonardo DiCaprio gives what is quite possibly the best performance of his career. Even the people who hate him admit he did a good job. It's turned some haters into fans and my brother who despises him even says he was great. Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson give their best performances since The Talented Mr. Ripley and As Good As It Gets. Mark Wahlberg almost steals the show with the best lines. Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen are good, too.

Definitely one of the best films of the 00's. And easily one of the best remakes of all time. It's intense, funny, exciting, suspenseful, superbly acted, violent, has great characters, and has one of the most shocking scenes I've ever seen. And there's not a boring moment in it's two and a half hour running time.

The film will most likely be nominated for picture, director and adapted screenplay, and in my opinion, it deserves all three of them. DiCaprio and Wahlberg also deserve nominations.

See this as soon as you can.

The Departed

The screenplay: Top Notch

The performances: all-star cast delivering all-star performances

The music: perfect

The Directing: Martin Scorsese at his finest and that is saying something.

Once again Scorsese delivers a film that meets or exceeds the expectations of its audience in nearly every way. There are moments of incredible tension, violence, and drama, moments where characters reveal their vulnerabilities and weakness. Comedic moments and moments of sadness and through it all a multi layered and brilliant story is told by an American film maker who once again proves Harvey Keitel correct when he said, "Maybe he (Scorsese) got what he deserves--exclusion from the mediocre."

This film is Scorsese's finest work since Raging Bull, but it is not simply about Martin Scorsese or the amazing screen play by William Monahan, it is more than an amazing score, and great cinematography. While many of the accolades for this film belong to those behind the scenes people who envisioned and directed this film. One would be remiss to not point out the great performances of an all-star cast, many of whom deliver the finest performances of long and storied careers. Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon deliver incredible performances.

However the performance that stood out for me was Wahlberg, Mark Wahlberg's Sgt. Dignam stole every scene he was in, and he shared screen time with each of the afore mentioned actors. He gets to deliver some of the best lines, and with every scene he leaves the audience wanting more, and anticipating his next scene.

Since The Academy has had its collective heads stuck … for so long, mentioning a Scorsese picture and Oscar in the same sentence seems to be a waste of time. That being said I can not say if he will finally win the Oscar that he has deserved for so long, as his major competition (Flags of our Fathers) has yet to be released, I will say that I expect to see Wahlberg nominated for best supporting, and Leo and Damon will be pitted against one another once more, this time for best actor, Monahan will be nominated for writing, and of course Scorsese will be nominated for director. Also, it goes without saying a best picture nomination will be in order for The Departed.

That was the long version; the short version is if you like a movie with incredible performances, direction, music and visuals. If you like a layered story that is not formulaic, in short if you appreciate film making and story telling at its finest then see this film. Even with the glowing reviews of myself and others, and the high expectations they will undoubtedly bring I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

The war between the police and the organised crime in Boston has reached new heights. Both Oliver Queenan and target #1 Frank Costello have placed a mole into each other's organisations. Billy Costigan is selected to infiltrate Costello's ranks thanks to a family background of criminals and working men, meanwhile Colin Sullivan has been groomed since youth to come up inside the ranks of the BPD. As Costigan makes progress it becomes clear to his police superiors that they too have a rat feeding information outwards. With only Frank knowing Sullivan's identity and Queenan and Dignam knowing Costigan's, a race begins with the first one to expose the other winning.

Having enjoyed the original film, I was quite looking forward to this film and not really worried that Hollywood would mess it up. In a way it does deliver but it is hard to ignore the problems and failings in the film and if I didn't realise how IMDb put together their top 250 list, I would be amazed that the film is running so high up it. The original was a tight cop thriller which I remember thinking owed much to American cinema in style and tone, so surely America can only do it better? Well, if not better then this is certainly bigger, with stars oozing out of every pore, a big director and a long running time. In regards the latter, the film should be commended for moving slickly through the 150 minutes and not feeling as long as it is. The fact that it is cool, engaging and quite exciting will be enough for most audiences and indeed the sheer volume of positive votes on this site shows it has struck something of a chord, but this is not to say it is a classic and those putting it alongside Goodfellas are simply out of their trees.

The script here tries to give more room for growth to the characters, to explore their feelings outside of the tension and fear of their situation. Unfortunately this produces many scenes that are a bit dull and unconvincing as they attempt to deepen the material. Specifically I am talking about the thread involving the girlfriend, her scenes add little and the dialogue in the session scenes is obvious and, as a Sopranos viewer, I was surprised by this. A secondary downside of this (although not totally to blame) is that it is not as gripping and claustrophobic as I would have liked. Yes it is thrilling at times but I wanted it to be consistent like a real cat'n'mouse game with the noose tightening palatably around each character's neck as they raced to hang the other first. The ending is also a little less effective than it should be because, added to the original's strong ending is an extra scene that doesn't have a strong foundation and is not as good as it should have been.

Ironically for such a starry affair, some of the performances are a bit weak, and I'm thinking specifically of Damon. He never seems like the flipped version of Costigan and I never really got the feeling of him being trapped, panicked and hunted in the same way as his opposite number was. Conversely then DiCaprio is pretty strong and is convincing as he loses himself into Costello's gang of murderers. He works well alongside a scene-stealing Nicholson. At times he threatens to completely tip over into ham but for the most part he is just larger than life and provides a lot of energy to the film. This energy is harnessed well by director Scorsese who directs with this usual eye for a setup and also an enjoyable soundtrack. The use of sudden stops in the music and quick cuts is perhaps a bit much to get used to but it is strangely effective. The support cast is impressive in depth but they are not all that well used. Walhberg has all the best lines but it seems like he has wandered in from another movie at times and, funny as he was, he is never the developed and involved character that he needed to be for the way the narrative required. Baldwin is the same although he is more restrained and fits better, while Sheen is a nice touch of class. The woman playing the girlfriend is as weak as her material and although she did have an important part in the story, she adds very little beyond the writing on the page.

Overall though, this is a strong and professional film and it is a shame that it isn't as good as I wanted. The attempts to paint detailed and complex characters makes it interesting but not as convincing as it needed to be – with Damon in particular left out there with little to work with in comparison to DiCaprio. The moments of slick tension and action are very good though and the only downside was that it made me wish for more of the same and that Scorsese had focused on keeping it tight and taut in the same way that the superior original had.

First off, this is an American stylized remake of the Hong Kong hit, Infernal Affairs. I have to give credit to that, a good film. I have seen both Infernal Affairs and The Departed. I personally prefer The Departed, and I think because of one thing: Martin Scorsese. This is the master behind such greats as Taxi Diver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and he's at it again. The film has an all star cast with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin.

The Direction was amazing. (maybe one of the reasons why he won the Oscar for it) I loved how some of the scenes were shot and set up. Especially regarding the Chinatown, and police interrogation scenes, among many others. The film is perfectly set up with intense, suspense scenes while adding in amounts humor at times. It works really well. The script is top notch. (Also Oscar winning) Realistic strong dialogue from scene to scene.

Another thing I liked more in The Departed, as opposed to Infernal Affairs, was the acting. DiCaprio really seemed to earn a lot of respect from this role. Here, he takes on the tough guy persona so well. Sure it was known he was a good actor from his Oscar nominated performances in What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Aviator, but he really takes it to another level here. I can't see anyone else as the character, he fits so perfectly with it. Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, being Massachusetts natives, also give solid performances, with their natural accents. Nicholson works well in his role, as well. Everyone was extremely solid and everything seemed so real.

Set in Boston, The Departed takes in all the Boston like atmosphere. Beautifully shot scenes of the Massachusetts Golden Dome State Capital building is just one part of the landscape. The Dropkick Murphys song "I'm Shipping up to Boston" really fits, great use of songs. Scorsese usually works music into his films really well.

"Cops or Criminals. When you're facing a loaded gun what's the difference?" This quote really represents the film." Matt Damon plays a state officer in the Police, working for the crime boss of the area, Frank Costello (Nicholson). While Damon's character can be described as a "bad guy," he is really misunderstood. As a kid, he is sort of mentored into crime business by Costello while Costello becomes the father figure Damon's character never had. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a young guy, coming from a bad, crime ridden family. He's decides to become a police officer to get away from the crime life he's been surrounded by. Taking all this into account, Captain Queenen (Sheen) and Seargent Dignam (Wahlberg) decide to send DiCaprio's character undercover to find out more about the criminal underworld and Costello. With his family's crime record, he fit's perfectly into the situation. Now you have a highly ranked officer working for bad guy, and an undercover cop in the criminal underworld working for the State Police. From here it's an all out suspenseful thrill ride. Who's who? Who's working for who? Who can you trust? Paranoia threatens everyone. Lies. Betrayal. Sacrifice. How far will you take it?

At the heart of this film is character development. We really feel for the characters. We feel like we know them. It's really amazing part of this story and film. Tremendous story telling here.

This is one of the most entertaining and suspenseful crime/drama's I have seen in a while. While Infernal Affairs, came first, I think The Departed expands on it in so many ways. Really solid crime/drama. Check both out when you get a chance. It's really worth it. 9/10

Please don't make negative comments like some of the aforementioned people have been doing if you haven't seen the film yet! I have seen it, at a press screening last week. Not only is it the best film of the year so far, it marks a return to form for Martin Scorsese, and ranks with the likes of GOODFELLAS as being one of the best in his canon of films.

I'm a fan of the Hong Kong film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, upon which this is based. While THE DEPARTED keeps the basic structure of the original, it is very much its own movie, so much so that the screenwriter, William Monahan, didn't even watch the original film while adapting its screenplay, thus enabling him to infuse the script with his, and Scorsese's, respective visions.

All the actors are first-rate (yes, even Leo, for all you DiCaprio bashers out there), and turn in some of their best performances to date. THE DEPARTED is sure to garner a host of Oscar nods, if not wins, including (hopefully) Scorsese's long-overdue statuette for Best Director. Plus, with actors like Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin playing supporting roles, that says a lot about the quality of the film they signed up for! THE DEPARTED is tough stuff, not for the faint-of-heart. That said, it is a must-see for adult viewers who long for intelligent, gritty stories to grace our movie screens once again.