Entertainment
Movie Review: The Departed
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There is the most perfect cinematic moment in the later stages of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. Cut off from his handlers, feeling more alone than at any other point in the movie, undercover police officer Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) receives a call on his mobile phone. The phone is his only real point of contact with the powers that be, and yet - under the circumstances - he knows answering it would be a bad move.
On the other end of the line is corrupt cop Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) - the yin to Costigan’s yang. While Costigan’s role is to infiltrate one of Boston’s most prominent criminal gangs, Sullivan’s origin rests in the heart of that very same group. Sullivan knows that whoever picks up the call is the infiltrator.
Neither speaks. Time stands still. The tension is astonishingly tangible; DiCaprio and Damon both sell the scene with magnificent performances, worthy of actors with far more experience than either of these two relatively young stars. I can’t help but be reminded of the Pacino - De Niro face off in Heat. The tension is that strong.
The Departed is, unquestionably, the best film I’ve seen this year. It’s a film comprised of so many magnificent scenes, like the one I’ve described above, and each scene is filled with equally magnificent performances.
At the top of the list is the one, the only Mr Jack Nicholson. I thought our days of seeing Jack do psycho were over, but I’m happy to say he’s back, and at his maniacal best. Terrifyingly intense, cruel, and at times down right evil, Nicholson’s portrayal of gang boss Frank Costello is one of his best. Nobody can play roles like this the way Nicholson does, and his performance alone is worth the price of admission. It’s such an entertaining performance that it’s hard to criticise, but it does feel like there’s a certain lack - as with Nicholson’s previous performances, most notably The Shining - of graduality when it comes to Costello’s descent into apparent madness. It seems he’s supposed to be driven to greater and more disturbing lengths of psychosis, but some of this is lost as a result of Nicholson’s on-screen lunacy.
And yet, DiCaprio manages to share many of his scenes and impresses just as much. In fact, DiCaprio’s performance here is perhaps more impressive than Nicholson’s, given that we already know how well Jack pulls these roles off. I’ve never seen DiCaprio convey such intensity on screen. As his character passes through a complex range of emotions, from rage, to paranoia, to despair, DiCaprio nails each one. He holds the screen like few people acting today.
Prior to The Departed, I’d have predicted that if Leonardo DiCaprio appeared in a scene with Jack Nicholson, and Ray Winstone, he’d have been acted off the screen. I’m happy to say that this is far from the case, and DiCaprio’s is possibly the best performance here. One of the most impressive elements of The Departed, is that there really are no poor performances at all.
Matt Damon deserves some credit too. Whilst his performance isn’t as powerful as Nicholson or DiCaprio - there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write - he does a good job of making his character at least partially likeable. He’s a scumbag, plain and simple, and yet we do feel something for him, trapped in an impossible situation, groomed from an early age to be fundamentally corrupt.
It’s patently obvious that this is a dream cast: beyond Nicholson, Winstone, Damon and DiCaprio, there is Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and the impressive Vera Farmiga. And while each performance is good, a few characters aren’t quite as well developed as they could have been.
Winstone, as Mr French - Costello’s go to guy - doesn’t really have a lot to do. We all know that Ray Winstone can do far more than play henchmen. Wahlberg’s Dignam is similarly underwritten, getting to do only fractionally more than deliver some of the best lines in the film. Sheen does a great job as the only really nice guy in the film, Costigan’s boss Oliver Queenan, but Baldwin takes the prize for best supporting actor. As Sullivan’s boss he plays overweight, naive, sweaty, and terminally stressed out with watchable ease.
It’s fair to say that Vera Farmiga is the lynchpin though. There’s a symmetry to the characters: Queenan - Costello, Costigan - Sullivan, French - Dignam, but Farmiga’s Madolyn - psychologist to both Sullivan and Costigan - ties everything together and stands outside of the ongoing struggle. And yet, she’s more a part of it than she knows. Looking like a significantly more attractive Sarah Jessica Parker, and with significantly better acting ability to boot, Farmiga is one to watch. She could have easily been the weak link here, but manages to be anything but.
Martin Scorsese pulls the whole thing together with a masterful piece of direction. The performances he’s managed to produce, the unintrusive directorial style, and the unmistakable ambiance are all testament to what happens when Scorsese makes a great picture. And yet I’d rate The Departed as one of the most effective he’s made; unlike his other works - Goodfellas, for example - The Departed has genuinely likeable characters. Queenan, Costigan, and Madolyn are all inherently good people. Scorsese doesn’t present us with a rogues gallery and ask us to pick our favourite; he takes the time to establish a history, to build a relationship with each character, before tearing everything down.
And down it comes. The Departed is at times harshly unpleasant with it’s violence, and is ultimately one of the most uncompromising films I’ve ever seen. Despite it’s two and a half hour duration, and an ending which takes longer than you’d expect to arrive, it never feels overlong. There are virtually no set pieces, and little action. This is character driven from the beginning, and all the better for it.
At one moment in the film, one of the characters is watching John Ford’s The Informer. The scene in question is the conclusion, when Victor McLaglen’s Gypo Nolan is celebrating his forgiveness in church. If Scorsese was attempting to capture the same atmosphere here as Ford did back in the thirties, he’s achieved his goal. The themes of forgiveness, misplaced trust, betrayal, and greed are all present here, and the film’s emotional resonance is just as strong.
And that, in my eyes, is as glowing a recommendation as I could bestow upon The Departed. Scorsese’s latest is possibly his best. Worthy of numerous Oscar nominations when the time comes, skillfully produced, and thoroughly entertaining, moving, and thought provoking.
Highly recommended.
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