The Departed: Martin Scorsese's new film

[llabb]

AJ, perhaps I thought it slow (only very briefly) at 1 or 2 points because I already knew the story. I'd be interested to see if anyone who hadn't seen IA every thought it slow, briefly, around 2/3 of the way through.

What makes my case a little, though, is that IA pulled off more in 100 min than The Departed did in 150. The emotional/psychological/motivational stuff I posted about makes the characters so much more compelling. The Departed tries to do that with the Leo-shrink relationship, but doesn't do nearly as much. And there were certain key scenes left out that would have added a lot to the character.


I agree that Scorcese has little chance at BD, but think he may manage to get nominated without the movie getting a BP nod. There's often 1 of those in there.


I agree with AJ from earlier that Leo was great in this movie, while being meh to most guys in other movies. As I said, in the few that I've seen (just the major ones like Aviator, CMIYC, and the Beach), I thought he delivered a good acting performance, but didn't like the guy.

This movie changes that. I think guys will actually enjoy his performances after this, and that it changes his rep enough to make people look back at his great past work, in spite of Titanic. Filmies may have already loved him, but now he will be a draw, for guys as well, not just girls.


For those of you here who have seen both movies, did anyone like The Departed better than the original Infernal Affairs?

[SoloAJ]

My friend had never seen IA and he did say he felt it got a little slower in the 2nd half...so there you go.

As for liking them....I rated them equally. I honestly don't know which I liked better. The story was done so much better in IA but the acting is just tremendous in TD. (It is worth noting that while the acting in IA is potentially BETTER overall...I am not familiar with the actors at all so that detracted.) Knowing these guys so famously in TD....I thought it made it all the better when the acting was superb.

I honestly don't know. I've gone back and forth over which I like better. They have totally different merits to me.

[KDawg]

This definetly won't be up for that many oscars. Nicholson may have a chance, but with the Good Shepard and Babel coming out those two will probably be the films that dominate the oscar contentions. I also think that if the studio really thought that this had a strong oscar shot then they'd release it in early november as opposed to early october

[andyfox]

I liked Collateral a lot, but I thought the ending was silly. I liked the ending of The Departed because I think it was meant to be quasi-comical and the fates of all the protagonists were deserved. People in the theater were shocked at who got killed in the elevator scene.

[Blarg]

I was gonna bump my review of Infernal Affairs, but can't find it. Drat. It was pretty decent.

[llabb]

Andy: I don't think the elevator part of the ending was meant to be comical, except for the Anthony Anderson part (who totally did not fit the movie, although he wasn't bad). The Mark Wahlberg/ Matt Damon part at the end, and the closing shot, were obviously comical.

The original's ending was not comic at all, but fit with the movie and was great. The way Scorcese handled the ending was inappropriate, given what he did with the characters in the movie. I said somewhere that Scorcese f'ed up the ending, but I take that back. He f'ed up Matt Damon's character, and skimped on DiCaprio's. A very fun movie, but not as weighty or interesting as the original.


KDawg: I agree that it probably won't win many Oscars except maybe Adapted Screenplay. But couldn't it be nominated for Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Director, and Editing? I don't know much right now about The Good Shepherd and Babel - what do you think they will be nominated for, and perhaps win? Isn't Flags of Our Fathers the top fave for Picture?

One interesting thing I did see on IMDB is that DiCaprio was cast for the lead in The Good Shepherd but dropped out to be in The Departed. But then I look and see that Matt Damon is the lead in Shepherd. Huh?


Blarg: I'd be interested in your Infernal Affairs review.


All: I just saw another commerical for The Departed. It sucked. Warners f'ed up the marketing campaign bigtime. Released in Nov, with better marketing, this could have been a $40 million flick.

[KDawg]

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KDawg: I agree that it probably won't win many Oscars except maybe Adapted Screenplay. But couldn't it be nominated for Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Director, and Editing? I don't know much right now about The Good Shepherd and Babel - what do you think they will be nominated for, and perhaps win? Isn't Flags of Our Fathers the top fave for Picture?



[/ QUOTE ]

flags of our fathers will definetly be best picture material too, I forgot about that. Basically, the four main contenders will be Babel, Flags, United93, and the Good Shepard. There may be an indie film or two that may sneak in, but we won't see a situation like last year where 4 or the 5 nominated films were independants.

I don't think that scorsese will stand a chance this year for Director when he will be up against Iñárritu. From everything that I have heard about Babel is that it may be one of the best films of the decade and that it vastly supases Amorres Perros and 21 Grams which Iñárritu also directed. Things will also depend on how Fast Food Nation gets recieved by the public at large as from what I've heard(since I don't travel the festival circuit) that it may be one of Linklater's best.

as far as lead actor, editing, adapted screenplay, supporting actor: I think that you will see several nominations for this film in those categories for sure, but while I really liked it, i just don't think that in the end it will be oscar worthy. YOu can normally tell if a studio thinks that a film may be a strong oscar contender based on when in the fall they release a film. Almost all of the studio's strongest opinions of what may make it come out in the last 6 weeks of the year.


For those that don't have an idea about Babel, Here is a link for a trailer for it. Just put it in the format that you want to use

[RakebackStore]

The Departed is actually a re-make of Infernal Affairs, which is less comical. The humour in The Departed didn't seem to always work very well.

Part of the movie is all the twists and once you know what is coming it kills it somewhat. Although as I remember it one less person dies in the original. Infernal Affairs was made in Hong Kong and subtitled, but if you don't mind subtitles I'd recommend that film highly.

The Departed pales in comparision to Scorsese's best films. Not really fair I guess to compare them, but if you haven't seen it don't expect anything like Goodfellas or Casino or Mean Streets or Raging Bull or Taxi Driver.

[Zeno]

I finally had time to see this movie tonight. A great film I thought and well done by all involved. There are always some things to quibble about and a few knocks about this and that but it was certainly worth the price of admission and then some. Considering the majority of what Hollywood spews out to be gobbled up by the throbbing masses, The Departed is a violent gem in a bleak and barren landscape of mundane sterility.

-Zeno

[Zeno]

Will note one interesting thing - William has only one person he can honestly trust towards the end; a woman. Perhaps one other person would have been trustworthy but he took the fast way down from a building.

Anyway, reliability is rare. Very rare indeed.

-Zeno