Review of The Departed (2006) by Rudy M — 17 Oct 2015

In this review I'm not going to try and show how much better 'Infernal Affairs', the 2002 Honk Kong original of 'The Departed' is than Scorsese's production. Neither am I going to point out how violent this movie is or how many times the characters say 'fuck'. Go read Christopher Orr if you like that stuff. I did not see 'Infernal Affairs' yet. And if you've read any of my other reviews, you know how I think of politically correctness. Yawn.

I have not seen 'Infernal Affairs'. Before watching 'The Departed', I had no clue it was a remake. I will have to check that movie out and I'm interested to see what makes it typically Hong Kong. I know the violence and language are a product of the setting. I am one of those folks who do not believe you can create a believable and genuine atmosphere by removing violence and profanity that may be inherent to the environment. It's like some of these 'critics' love to see a lengthy drama in the setting of South American drug cartels without any swearing or blood. Good luck.

Back to the movie at hand. In short, it's a drama in which two moles are placed in a Boston mobster's unit and the police department respectively. They quickly get wind of each other's existence and a cat-and-mouse game to flush one another out ensues.

That story is based on the previous movie mentioned before. For the get go, Martin Scorsese sets the Boston tone flawlessly. Eveything from the sets, characters and dialogue fits. With great talent (Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon, Sheen, Wahlberg and more) performing to the best of their abilities, what you end up with is an outstanding production. It's well-paced, well-acted, well-told and, well, just a great movie.

Granted, there are some sudden plot twists that might not be appreciated by everyone, but they do make sense in the world that we're witnessing. All in all, 'Infernal Affairs' might be even better than this. Good for that movie, but I'm reviewing 'The Departed' here. And if you have a chance to see 'The Departed', don't miss it.