The Departed

Four stars for that beautifully dry ending, but as a whole it didn’t really thrill me. There are a lot of big names, but the best is DiCaprio, he’s really unlikeable, but his performance is great. His antagonist, Matt Damon, in contrast, is a jerk at times, not because he’s bad, but because I didn’t find him believable in the role. The story moves along quite slowly, there aren’t any proper turns until about the middle and before that, you have to put up with a lot of dialogues that are supposed to be vulgar, dirty and tough, but they are clearly fake and forced. For me, The Departed deserves 75%. (27/08/2008)

This arrogant, self-absorbed mainstream ride is supposed to be the best film of this year that has won so many Oscars and other awards? I can't believe it. Martin Scorsese should wake up to the reality of today's world after those beautiful years and understand that “American” stories of tough guys are no longer in fashion and he should stop trying to replicate or hint at the unattainable pieces of his past work. The quality of The Departed, whether it is a good or a bad remake, can only be judged by someone who has seen both films, which I am not, so I take this film as a separate compact entity without any comparisons or regret about how it should have been. However, as a crime story, it is insufficient. There is an excessive amount of vulgarity, with a good half of it being unnecessary. The plot is far-fetched – tough guys, tough lines, shootings every day – just a normal day in the big city. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but this is really overdone and off-putting. For fans, it may be an entertaining film that shows Scorsese makes movies for fun and doesn't worry too much about it, but for the overwhelming majority of rational-minded laypeople, it's just a typical American hyped-up ride without a trace of real subtext. And the Oscar “for merits” is quite laughable considering the previous works of the famous film connoisseur. (28/07/2007)

Until the very end, Scorsese's speedy directing and the great actors manage to disguise the fact that this tale about cops, rats and hidden agents may have too trivial of a plot, in which, unlike Infernal Affairs, there is no room for deeper psychology and surprises. Nevertheless, it is a thriller that can be watched breathlessly and enjoyed at an incredible pace of storytelling. The question is whether it can be watched more than once. (10/08/2008)

I am not familiar with the Asian film Infernal Affairs, which forms a precursor to The Departed, and given my relationship with Asian productions, I am skeptical about the idea that it could interest me more. However, I don't have to address the lack of originality of the subject matter and how Scorsese dealt with it. Nonetheless, it is an interesting film that fully satisfies me on an emotional level. The duel of two professionals who infiltrate the enemy camp to gather information is full of tension and twists. A clever film with excellent casting, led by Leonardo DiCaprio. Overall impression: 90%. (19/11/2009)

I was really looking forward to this. Power. But maybe too much. The Departed is certainly not a bad film, but from beginning to end I couldn’t get rid of the impression that it's primarily a film that drags on and is unnecessarily long. Yet the number of minutes (the great Casino is even longer, whilst the absolutely fantastic The Irishman is even longer than Casino) is not the problem, but rather what they are filled with. I don't know the original, but it's three quarters of an hour shorter, and I wouldn't be surprised if all that seemed boring or unnecessary here was the work of William Monahan and Martin Scorsese. (26/02/2021)