*** Official The Departed Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Kyle_D]

Sorry, I got lazy and rationalized that since I had quoted the earlier post and much of the discussion up to that point had been comparing the two films, people who didn't want that spoiled would have fair warning to skip it. Spoiler tags should have been there and the post has been edited.

 

[Richard Kim]

There's a difference between the two films regarding the female character:

In Infernal Affairs, there are TWO main female characters: the psychiatrist who the cop mole sees, and the girlfriend of the mob mole (who's actually a writer). In The Departed, these two characters are combined into one character, Madolyn, which results in the love triangle that doesn't exist in IA.

 

[Tino]

Ya know, the more I am thinking about it, the more I am liking it.

 

[Ray Faiola]

I thought it was great until the last 15 minutes. The "let's get the hell out of here" finish was inexcusable. You have a complicated web of characters and counter-espionage going on and it all ends budda-bing budda bang. A more satisfying conclusion would have been very welcome, even if it meant going another reel (PRINCE OF THE CITY was 167 minutes).

 

[teapot2001]

Tino, I think you need to see it again.

~T

 

[ThomasC]

"Let's get the hell out of here"

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Are you talking about the series of deaths at the end where Billy arrests Colin?

 

[Brett_B]

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't his accent brought up during his initial interview with Sheen & Wahlberg's characters (along the lines of speaking in different accents)?

I may be wrong.

 

[Haggai]

Finally got to see this today; I saw Infernal Affairs some time last year on DVD. I loved this one, though I thought it took a while to get going, and I can sort of see some of the complaints about the flurry of head shots being an overly hurried way to end it. I also thought the envelope that Leo leaves with the psychiatrist should have paid off in some direct way. Now, on to the good: well, everything else. The dialogue totally lives up to the hype, brilliant lines and exchanges all over the place, and the cast is uniformly excellent. The cat-and-mouse scenes in IA were my favorite part of that movie, and Scorsese and his crew delivered the goods superbly in the corresponding scenes in this one.

It's been forever since Jack had a really juicy villain role to sink his teeth into, hasn't it? As memorable as he was in A Few Good Men, he didn't have much screen time. So this is definitely my favorite Jack-being-Jack bad guy role since Batman. If he was a bit over-the-top here or there in this movie, I didn't notice, as I loved every scene he was in. Wahlberg is indeed very good in a fun supporting role, but I thought Baldwin was the one who was really stealing scenes left and right from everybody around him. Sheen's character is pretty straightforward, but the credibility he brings to it is perfect for the part. I wasn't too familiar with Farmiga from much of anything before, but I liked her a lot in this one, and she looked great to boot. Ray Winstone and the other baddies are very strong, and Damon is also good. And although I'm a big fan of Tony Leung, I didn't find his character's fate in IA to be all that moving (maybe because it was exactly the same role he played in Hard Boiled!), but Leo is simply excellent in this part. I completely agree with the post up-thread that expressed shock and sorrow at his character's death even in spite of the fact that we (those of who've seen IA) knew it was coming, even pretty much down to the exact moment.

One more random thought: the slow-mo falling shot of Sheen's body was a bit corny, and as I remember it from IA, the corresponding shot simply has the body slamming down on top of a parked car with absolutely no warning (unfortunately followed by a syrupy pop ballad on the soundtrack, IIRC). A direct impact out of nowhere would have been a little stronger in this one, I think.

 

[teapot2001]

I didn't like the slow-mo of the falling body either. It felt like DePalma. Something I felt missing in IA was pathos, but this movie delivered that.

Can you guys imagine if DeNiro ended up with Sheen's role? Damn, what a cast.

~T

 

[Haggai]

As great as DeNiro is, I don't think it would have been that different with him in the part. It's not a very "big" role, just a workmanlike character who calls for someone with the requisite screen presence, and I think Sheen fits the bill as well as anyone else out there.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Yeah, I thought Sheen was great. As much as I would like to see Scorcese and DeNiro on another project, this really wouldn't be the role to pay that off.

 

[AaronMan]

DeNiro would have been better in Nicholson's role. I thought Nicholson, as good as he was, was in full self parody mode here. He was really hamming it up and I was glad when he died. De Niro would have been a bad motherf*cker.

 

[Sam Favate]

I also thought Sheen was great. He isn't used enough, IMO, and it was refreshing to see him in this. As opposed to DeNiro, whom I love, but who has been in everything. Plus, to a certain segment of the audience, Sheen is beloved (as Jed Bartlet) so his character's resolution in the movie has that much more impact.

 

[Haggai]

To each his own, but I don't see why anyone thinks that Jack wasn't just right for this role. Everyone points to how funny the script is as one of its biggest strengths, and if you want a larger-than-life bad guy who can maximize the humor that's there on the page, who could possibly be better than Jack?

 

[Jerry R Colvin]

Here is my petty complaint (overall, I pretty much loved the film).

Sometimes when they showed phone numbers, they were realistic phone numbers. Other times, they were the ole "555" numbers.

??? If they could find a way to use real-looking numbers some of the times, why did they have to go with the "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to point out that you are watching a movie now!!" 555 numbers?

555 all the time is bad enough, but part of the time is even worse. I couldn't mentally resolve whether I was supposed to be watching something set in the real world versus something set in 555 world...

 

[Nathan V]

Enduring 555 phone numbers is one of the prices we pay for watching movies. It's great when they can get around it, though. Seeing the use of full addresses, phone numbers with accurate corresponding area codes, and credit card numbers (!) in Punch Drunk Love was very refreshing.

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Jose Martinez]

I agree. Up until Sullivan kills Costello, it was Best Picture material to me. After that, it felt like everything was rushed or they couldn't figure how to end it. Digman disappears after quitting and suddenly shows up at the end just didn't cut it for me. Sullivan's wife knows her husband is the rat and yet nothing comes out of it. What was in the brown envelop Costigan gave her? Did the filmakers forget about it? Why was there another mole in the police when Costello seemed to be only communicating and getting information from Sullivan? I'm sure you'll all come up with answers but they sure weren't obvious when I saw it and I don't intend to see it again.

In fact, I think Gangs in New York is a far superior film. I don't believe this is Scorsese's year at the Oscars either.

***/*****

 

[Robert Anthony]

These are all pretty linked, actually. Dignam quits, and it's been shown the only way he can contact Costigan is through his old boss's phone--which is in evidence, which he can't get to, because he's just quit. He has to wait for Costigan to try and contact him, which he does BY:

Giving the envelope to Madolyn. Who Madolyn then gives to Dignam. Dignam knows where Sullivan is, because Madolyn lives with Sullivan.

Those seemed obvious, to me. The 2nd Mole, not so much--but it makes sense that someone that crooked would have a backup. But that backup wasn't in the same position Sullivan was in, so there's no reason for Costello to be checking in with him. He wasn't VITAL, more like a hedge bet.

But yeah, Dignam (who's character doesn't exist in the original) was sort of a deus ex machina, but he's not SLOPPILY integrated into the film, I don't think. It makes sense, even if it's not explicity spelled out onscreen. I like that Scorsese and Monahan left that open, as well as not hammering that Madolyn's kid is Costigans.

 

[Jose Martinez]

But it wasn't established what was in the brown envelop. Costigan only got the evidence from Costello's lawyer after he gave that envelop to Madolyn. I believe Costigan told her to open the package if he didn't come back after 2 weeks. Last time the envelop was shown on screen was Madolyn writing Costigan on the envelop and stuffing it away in her desk at work. I also think it was pretty sloppy of Costigan after all he went through (this is I believe the screenwriter's fault) that he would only send the evidence to Sullivan. I don't think he ever knew Sullivan was married to Madolyn yet he knew his address, the same one where he gave her the envelop outside her door.

 

[Henry Gale]

Viewed the film for the second time yesterday.
As the credits began to roll the older couple sitting nearby stepped in front of me on their way out. Which is when the wife said, "It wasn't Brad Pitt, it wasn't Brad Pitt!"