"The Departed"

[torpid]

This was a very good movie, but I would have enjoyed it a LOT more if I hadn't seen infernal affairs. Do yourself a favor and skip infernal affairs if you are considering seeing this film. Every major plot element was identical, except a few things at the very end.

 

[Aharami]

to all those who havent seen this movie yet: go see it!

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Aharami
to all those who havent seen this movie yet: go see it!

QFT! saw it friday night and it was great. I didn't realize it was that long until we got up to leave.

Mark W. had the best lines in the whole movie too.

 

[oLLie]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
Very solid movie, will possibly see it again.

Originally posted by: frankgomez75

Originally posted by: weiv0004
Saw the movie tonight . . . pretty good movie. I thought the accents were pretty lame and seemed to fade in and out, but it didn't spoil the movie. Plus I'm not from Boston, so for all I know they were spot on.





**********SPOILER********




Question. After Martin Sheen's character dies, along with the gang member. Wahlberg's character quits . . . who is left to tell the news that the dead gang member was the undercover cop? I was under the belief that the operation was fairly secretive. Does this mean he actually was another undercover cop?

Well, that scene kinda confused me too. Frank (Jack N.) told his henchmen to ditch the body in the swamp.... when the body was discovered the news reported it as an undercover cops body was found. Frank (Jack N.) said the news was only reporting it that way to throw him off the trail of who the REAL RAT (Leo C) was. The movie to me never really made clear whether or not that guy in the swamp was a REAL Undercover or what. I believe he was a real undercover cause he gave LEO the WRONG address yet LEO shows up to the right address and never told the other henchmen, but maybe because 1 of 2 reasons:
1) Real undercover cop didn't want to blow Leo's cover
2) Had a grudge agains Frank and wanted Frank to go down.

Dont know, maybe someone else can explain better.


Overall, the movie was excellent...

***** SPOILER *****

Or #3, he died before he could tell them since he never put it together until right before he died.

****** SPOILER *******
I really doubt it was #3 because right before he died he said to Leo "Ask me why I didn't tell..." and I'm pretty sure the answer isn't "cause I just figured it out 10 seconds ago"

Originally posted by: MartyMcFly3

Originally posted by: posterboy
SPOILER AHEAD!!

what was in the envelope that he gave her and told her not to open?

Im assuming evidence that revealed Damon to be the mole.

****** SPOILER *******
I was wondering what was in there myself, but I'm not so sure it's evidence of Damon's true identity. It was a pretty flat envelope, what conclusive evidence could he have put in there? His conclusive evidence was the audio tapes, no? I thought maybe it was an explanation of his (Leo's) own true identity and the names/contact info of the people (or single person at that point) who could verify that it was true.

Which brings me to my own question which is: How did Mark's character figure out who the rat was? I'll be disappointed if I overlooked something obvious.

 

[z42]

Great movie :thumbsup: right up there with the Illusionist for best films of the year IMO.


*******SPOILER***********



I think the envelope was to explain his identity and had a contact # for Wahlberg's character since he gave it to her "in case something happens to me".

It would also explain how he got access to Sullivan's apartment and knew he was the rat.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: z42
Great movie :thumbsup: right up there with the Illusionist for best films of the year IMO.


*******SPOILER***********



I think the envelope was to explain his identity and had a contact # for Wahlberg's character since he gave it to her "in case something happens to me".

It would also explain how he got access to Sullivan's apartment and knew he was the rat.

I firmly believe that this is the case. It was a great dead-man's-last-word trick.

No, the *real* question of the movie was...WHOIS YOUR DADDY?

Seriously, was it Damon or Di Caprio?

What a great movie!!

 

[torpid]

**** MORE SPOILERS ****


I inferred leo was the father due to the scene where damon seemed to have erectile dysfunction.


Another possibility for how wahlberg knew who the rat was, is leo called him before he died... at least he said he did... "where's xxx (forgot char's name? I called him too"

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: torpid
**** MORE SPOILERS ****


I inferred leo was the father due to the scene where damon seemed to have erectile dysfunction.


Another possibility for how wahlberg knew who the rat was, is leo called him before he died... at least he said he did... "where's xxx (forgot char's name? I called him too"

Are you sure Leo called Wahlberg, also? I thought he told Anthony Anderson to call?
"WHERE'S DIGNAM? i TOLD YOU TO CALL DIGNAM AND BRING HIM DOWN HERE TOO!"

(i'm unclear now, too. not a bad reason to watch it again )

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: z42
Great movie :thumbsup: right up there with the Illusionist for best films of the year IMO.


*******SPOILER***********



I think the envelope was to explain his identity and had a contact # for Wahlberg's character since he gave it to her "in case something happens to me".

It would also explain how he got access to Sullivan's apartment and knew he was the rat.

This makes a hell of a lot more sense than my theory of what was in the envelope. You convinced me.

Im definitely buying this when it comes out on DVD.

 

[12DaHead]

Originally posted by: torpid
This was a very good movie, but I would have enjoyed it a LOT more if I hadn't seen infernal affairs. Do yourself a favor and skip infernal affairs if you are considering seeing this film. Every major plot element was identical, except a few things at the very end.

Exactly, I don't understand how the critics can claim this is "loosely" based on Infernal Affairs. Everything important is the exact same. I can't recall most of the details from Infernal Affairs, but things that I immediately noticed was the same:

The undercover cop was pulled out of training camp
The undercover cop wants out
The head cop meeting the undercover on the roof then gets thrown off by gangsters.
The girl playing the recorded message and the corrupt cop walks in
The rat killing the mob boss
The undercover cop discovering the identity of the rat in the office
The undercover cop meeting the rat of the roof and arresting him
The undercover cop gets shot on the way down by another rat

The weird thing was the previews showed the movie Deja vu. As I was watching The Departed, I was thinking, "I saw this somewhere before, deja vu." Still, it's a good movie and everyone should watch it.

 

[FreshPrince]

just came back....Infernal Affairs > Departed

THe direction this movie got was terrible and the soundtrack didn't properly match the mood at all.

the only thing I got from the movie is that Di'Caprio is growing into a damn good actor. His next movie Blood Diamond looks like a great movie as well.

 

[minus1972]

Originally posted by: weiv0004
Saw the movie tonight . . . pretty good movie. I thought the accents were pretty lame and seemed to fade in and out, but it didn't spoil the movie. Plus I'm not from Boston, so for all I know they were spot on.





**********SPOILER********




Question. After Martin Sheen's character dies, along with the gang member. Wahlberg's character quits . . . who is left to tell the news that the dead gang member was the undercover cop? I was under the belief that the operation was fairly secretive. Does this mean he actually was another undercover cop?

I'm pretty sure they said he was a Boston undercover cop as opposed to being undercover for the State Police. The assumption being that the Boston police had a mole that they didn't want anyone to know about either. It also explains why he didn't tell anyone that Leo was the rat. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.

 

[Pepsi90919]

excellent movie

 

[kevman]

AWESOME movie.

The envelope thing bugs me though. Couldn't figure it out.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

How many people really watched Infernal Affairs? I think IA was a LOT easier to follow than this. This was a lot more fast paced moving and I guess American humor slows it down, so the plot seems more rushed.

IA was a low budget movie that came out pretty damn well, but Scorcesse has awesome directing skills that does make a movie like this shine, especially for American audiences,.

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
just came back....Infernal Affairs > Departed

THe direction this movie got was terrible and the soundtrack didn't properly match the mood at all.

the only thing I got from the movie is that Di'Caprio is growing into a damn good actor. His next movie Blood Diamond looks like a great movie as well.

I don't know about that really. I mean IA has a really Asian type directing. Plots in HK movies are quite simple to understand even if they have twists.

Scorsese does a good adaptation and you have to get out of the whole HK triad and dramatic music mood. The IA music, while good, is just overly dramatic like a Korean Drama or something. Too sappy.


*SPOILER WARNING*

I don't like the ending, but I can see how the American audience would disapprove if Matt Damon walked off like Andy Lau did.

I mean sure Andy Lau got shot, but that was in IA 3... wayyyy later in the future, and in The Departed, you think of it as a "Hahhaha payback, you got pwned b!tch" whereas in IA3 is like ok... finally someone got him, but it wasn't a "pwned" death.

As for the extra guy dying (the black guy), I thought it was excessive. IA was clever in showing how the guy got shot in teh elevator, but I thought The Departed turned into Road to Perdition where everyone just gets shot and killed. 1 extra guy died in the scene, and the dramatic factor was reduced by immense amounts.

Martin Sheen's death was clever, and while they didn't need to throw in dramatic music like IA does, I think everyone in the theater was like *tear* and the silence in the fall works pretty well. However, Leo's death was not as sad as Tony Leung's. Maybe it's because IA had some neat directing tricks like the elevator door trying to close on his corpse...


Bottom line is The Departed is an excellent remake of Infernal Affairs and it suits the American audience quite well. While it excels in some areas, I think IA is slightly better (better in other ways) overall. Go watch it. The movie is great even if you've seen IA. I had some fobby friends who were biased and said they hated it, but I would give it a 85 - 90% if I were to rate it. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 93%.

 

[Locut0s]

Just Saw it. Very entertaining. Not Scorsese's best film but still a very good one. It's a little long winded in my opinion but not by too much. I really don't like Mat Damon though.

 

[Shawn]

Saw this tonight and thought it was awesome!

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Saw this tonight and thought it was awesome!

Also saw it tonight. The theater was PACKED for the 9:15 show (my wife and I were surprised given that it wasn't opening weekend).

I thought the movie was great and the acting was top-notch. I haven't seen Internal Affairs, but I'm tempted to now. Wahlberg's lines were hysterical!

 

[BHeemsoth]

Saw it last night also, great movie. I thought it moved a tad slow (but I tend to get bored during movies), but the plot line was excellent. Often times when they pack this many stars into a movie it ends up being being pretty bad, but this movie was great.

 

[caivoma]

I havent see the Departed, but if they make a good adaptation based on IA story , then i dont see what wrong with it. I really like IA but honestly, how many Americans seen it? A good remake beats no remake at all. I definetly gonna go see this next week.

 

[LanceM]

After finally seeing IA, I have one thing to say:

Tony Leung >>> Leo

 

[cleverhandle]

Saw it last night - this flick is vastly overrated, IMO, and I just can't understand how it gets the reviews it does. Nicholson/Castello is the closest any of the characters come to being 3 dimensional and sympathetic - the others are absolutely paper-thin. The plot, on a large scale, moves forward like a freight train, slowly and without any uncertainty as to the overall direction, despite some occasionally surprising twists in the details. The dialogue is nothing special. I'll grant that Scorsese's talent for camera work comes through and gives you a sense of jolting violence at numerous points (even when there isn't any violence per se on screen). But any movie, and especially any crime movie, has got to have characters and plot to drive it. And The Departed really falls flat on those basics.

 

[fbrdphreak]

The ending was so disappointing. The rest was pretty good, entertaining.

 

[GoingUp]

Just saw it yesterday. Its a long ass movie, but damned good. Dialogue is fantastic and there are a lot of good twists and turns.

 

[HendrixFan]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle
Saw it last night - this flick is vastly overrated, IMO, and I just can't understand how it gets the reviews it does. Nicholson/Castello is the closest any of the characters come to being 3 dimensional and sympathetic - the others are absolutely paper-thin. The plot, on a large scale, moves forward like a freight train, slowly and without any uncertainty as to the overall direction, despite some occasionally surprising twists in the details. The dialogue is nothing special. I'll grant that Scorsese's talent for camera work comes through and gives you a sense of jolting violence at numerous points (even when there isn't any violence per se on screen). But any movie, and especially any crime movie, has got to have characters and plot to drive it. And The Departed really falls flat on those basics.

Interesting that you say that, I felt Castello was more of a characature than a real person. I felt Costigan was very well developed and rounded, and Leo's performance was his best work yet. The plot moves straight ahead in a very certain direction. You have the two opposing characters introduced within the first 20 minutes, and it should be clear they are on a path towards a confrontation with each other. The entire movie then builds the dramatic tension towards that inevitable confrontation. I thought the camera work was good, it is Scorsese after all, but it wasn't anything we havent seen before. The editing stood out more than the direction. Ive seen the movie twice now, and it was better with the second viewing. I knew where the story was heading, but I enjoyed it because I felt for the characters.