The Departed (the let's-get-Marty-tied-with-3 6 Mafia thread)

I thought it was excellent. The acting was top notch. I've always thought DiCaprio was too much of a pretty boy to do those sorts of flicks, but he's getting tougher as he gets older. Matt Damon was solid too...he's a very underrated actor. He's always good in whatever he does. Jack Nicholson was Jack Nicholson...crazy as all get out, but not as over the top. Mark Whalberg was really good in it too...he's not the best actor, but playing a hard-ass detective from South Boston isn't exactly a stretch for him. Hell, you know he just followed a cousin around for a week or so....
Is it as good as "Goodfellas" or "Casino" or "Raging Bull"? No, but it was a lot better than "Gangs of New York"

 

I think it is ahead of Casino, behind Goodfellas and then Raging Bull.

 

Liked it a lot, didn't love it.


SPOILERS below.................



Obviously Scorsese has the Italian-gangster stuff in his bones; I had the feeling in this one he was more of a detached observer of the tribal rites and symbols. I'd put this one on the "Casino" level, which is fine with me.

What was up with the last shot, the rat on the balcony? About as subtle as Nicholson wearing the "Irish" shirt for his death scene.

Speaking of Leo and accents, did anyone else catch the preview for his December movie? It's set in the diamond-mining area of Africa (and looks awful), but Leo's got a full-blown accent. I couldn't tell if it was South African or Australian, though.

 

Saw it this afternoon. Loved it.

Also more indication of why I like DiCaprio, with the exception of crap like Titanic.

When I see him in a movie, he does fairly well assimilating into a variety of different roles. Meanwhile, with your guys like John Travolta, Tom Cruise or Gibson, the typical reaction is usually "Big Star as a hitman/vampire/priest/et cetera" rather than "character as played by Big Star" as I think DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Tom Hanks pull off much better.

 

Saw it on Sunday and was definitely impressed. I certainly thought it was better than Gangs and Casino, probably even with Raging Bull and a notch below Goodfellas.
But Wahlberg was great, I thought. I knew the others - Nicholson, Damon, even DiCaprio - would be strong, but Baldwin was also pretty hilarious in that role.

 

I agree totally. I have loved DiCaprio since What's Eating Gilbert Grape. He is shaping up into one of the finest actor's of his generation. When his career end, he will be in the same pantheon as DeNiro, Pacino, Hoffman, etc.

 

Scorcese needed to rebound after "Shark Tale." Just wasn't believable for me.

 

I haven't seen that caliber from DiCaprio... not even in this, his finest film since Gilbert Grape.

 

Baldwin's Patriot Act ecstacy was a highlight moment for me.

 

I laughed my ass off at that scene.

 

Earlier on this thread, I said A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is the best movie of the year. This is 1A. I saw The Departed today, and it's tremendous. It would have been Scorcese's masterpiece, if not for Goodfellas.

Jack's back as the coolest villian on the planet. There's no way he won't win awards for his role. Normally, I despise DiCaprio because I don't think he brings much to the movie. Not this time. He was brilliant. Hell, the entire cast was brilliant.

 

It felt like Nicholson approached his character in this movie the same way he did as the Joker in Batman (1989). Brilliant, crazy and pretty damn scary when he wanted to be.

Baldwin was great. It's like he has gotten comfortable playing this parody of his old self. After watching his oafish, loose, hyper-testosterone character in Departed -- loved the sting scene when he put the guy in an excited headlock -- it's hard to remember Baldwin as the sex symbol he was in the late '80s and early '90s.