The Departed: Martin Scorsese's new film

[andyfox]

I didn't see the plot holes you mention. Damon saw Nicholson as a father figure and he always knew he'd use the police as a way to get ahead via his connection with Nicholson. And DiCaprio was quite a hothead and didn't care for his family who had had some relationships with Nicholson's organization.

A bigger hole for me was the fact that Nicholson himself goes to the buys. Even Damon (?) tells him he shouldn't be going himself. Another (bigger one) was that how could Nicholson and his men not know who the rat was? It had to be the new kid who got "kicked" out of the police.

But more importantly: did you catch the homage to Psycho? I caught the Third Man reference, but don't know Psycho well enough. Ask John to tell you what it is and then tell me. Thanks.

[kitaristi0]

Just watched this last night. I'm not gonna say it was meh but it wasn't great. Not bad though, I'd definitely watch it again in a few years time if it was on tv. I agree with everyone else that the ending was a bit goofy.

The fact that it had Leo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg and that other guy who I don't like (not the president from West Wing but the other police boss, Damon's boss) may be clouding my judgment.

[Rick Nebiolo]

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A bigger hole for me was the fact that Nicholson himself goes to the buys. Even Damon (?) tells him he shouldn't be going himself.

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I think they just wanted to maximize Nicholson's screen time since he was so over the top and fun to watch in his character.



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Another (bigger one) was that how could Nicholson and his men not know who the rat was? It had to be the new kid who got "kicked" out of the police.

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Now that you point this out, I think your holes are bigger than my holes. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]



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But more importantly: did you catch the homage to Psycho? I caught the Third Man reference, but don't know Psycho well enough. Ask John to tell you what it is and then tell me. Thanks.

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I've never seen The Third Man but its on my kitchen counter via Netflix. I was hoping to watch it tonight but got in too late (plus the new issue of The Atlantic came in yesterday, I thought the Hillary article was so fascinating I could conceivably imagine voting for her).

Regarding the Psycho homage, I think John should pretend we are Community College Freshman and just explain in plain English what the heck he is talking about. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

~ Rick

[Ser William]

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A bigger hole for me was the fact that Nicholson himself goes to the buys. Even Damon (?) tells him he shouldn't be going himself. Another (bigger one) was that how could Nicholson and his men not know who the rat was? It had to be the new kid who got "kicked" out of the police.

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This was probably my biggest beef. I feel like they needed to one of two things better: 1) truly show us a moment or two that endears Leo's character to Jack's. I never felt we got there. Or, 2) give us a reason to believe that one or more of Jack's other underlings could be the snitch. If they had set up a couple other plausible alternatives that would have made more sense. The closest we came to this was when Leo was talking with him at the restaraunt and mentioned how his other underlings were thinking that they could do a better job than Jack. But I'd rather see that, than just hear it.

[Autocratic]

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A bigger hole for me was the fact that Nicholson himself goes to the buys. Even Damon (?) tells him he shouldn't be going himself. Another (bigger one) was that how could Nicholson and his men not know who the rat was? It had to be the new kid who got "kicked" out of the police.


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I agree on the latter point, but Bill's history was supposed to give him credibility. Also, he was the main suspect for a while, and basically talked his way out of it. If the family had been made to seem larger this would be a smaller hole.

However, it's not uncommon for bosses/big figures to go to very large and important transactions, especially a figure like Costello who clearly had very little trust or respect for those in his organization.

[andyfox]

"I've never seen The Third Man but its on my kitchen counter via Netflix."

You're in for a treat. One of my favorites. You'll need to wait for the very end to see the scene that was "homaged" in The Departed. Thematically, Collateral dealt with the same issues. The last twenty minutes are among the most thrilling in movie history. Enjoy.

[fyodor]

Have seen a lot of people sum up my feelings both in this and the oot thread. Good movie but the writing just falls apart towards the end. Acting is all around great though. I was never uncomfortable in my seat and for such a lengthy movie that's a good sign. I just didn't like the end starting with right after Nicholson departs.

Anyhow to take another tangent - when the credits started I sat bolt upright and said to the gf - "holy [censored]! That's Roy [censored] Buchanan!"

Anyone not familiar with Roy's guitar work should check him out. You can listen to some samples at this myspace page. including the song from the credits - Sweet Dreams.

Scorcese it turns out was introduced to Roy by Robbie Robertson who had taken some early guitar lessons from Roy. Roy unfortunately is among the departed, having hung himself in a jail cell in the late '80s after being arrested for drunkeness.

Easily far and away one of the top guitarists who ever lived. Easily.

You can always count on Scorcese for a great soundtrack and exemplary acting performances.

[pc in NM]

I really looked forward to this flick, but was disappointed...

It just seemed like what it was - a remake of a Japanese film imposed onto an American context. It just didn't have the emotional depth or authenticity of a Scorsese film. The violent plot "resolution" at the end was more John Woo-ish than Scorsese....

Nicholson phoned in his role, never getting much beyond what I assume he does everyday (Though, some of those bits were entertaining)....

The story/plot told us nothing about criminals, cops, Boston or anything else we didn't already know, for that matter.

The rat on the railing at the end was a groan...

Don't get me wrong, I never felt like walking out, but IMHO there was nothing really memorable. A random episode of The Sopranos or The Wire has better writing, acting, and film technoque....

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

gotta love Leo beating the guy in the 7/11 to loud rock music, reminiscent of vintage scorcese.

[andyfox]

I loved what the 7/11 owner said: "What's the matter with you people in this f*ckin' country, do you all hate each other?"