The Departed
As if anyone cares, lately I have had “issues” with the Academy Awards. Here is another one. The Departed won the Best Picture award this year, and it won Martin Scorsese the Oscar for Best Director. Its loaded cast includes Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, and Mark Wahlberg. So I spent my 20 bucks to buy the movie, and settled in last night to watch this fine entertainment. American Beauty, the award winner for 1999, has met its match in the Mark Knows It All “How did it win the Oscar” turkey of the year contest.
The plot is simple. The Irish Mafia places an informant in the Boston Police Department as the Boston Police Department simultaneously places an informant in the Irish Mafia. The tension centers on who is going to discover whom first. Even knowing the premise of the movie, it took me 45 minutes of this 2 ½ hour slog to begin to figure out who was whom. I spent a large part of the movie trying to explain it to my wife. Who?? What?? Where?? Why??
The plot is trite. It has a major hole in it if you give it any thought at all when the last brain is splattered on the wall. After you finally figure out what is going on, you can rapidly conclude how the movie is going to end, albeit you may be wondering how Scorsese will get it there…..and it takes a VERY LONG time to get there. Minimum, this is a two bathroom break flick.
The movie is filled with over acting, really overdone bad accents, and hokey symbolism. Jack Nicholson is great, but almost verges on a parody of himself, which makes me think that this movie was done partially tongue in cheek. It also makes me wonder if the portrayed Irish stereotype actually exists at any level. It is filled with such foul language and ethnic epithets that I can’t believe for a minute this is how Boston PD actually talks. If I were them, I would be outraged. Those of you who know me know that I am no prude, and my language can be colorful. I worked in the local Prosecutor’s office where this kind of trash talk was raised to an art form…and even I found this movie offensive.
Then there is the violence. Any Scorsese film is going to be violent, but there always seemed to be a purpose to the violence. Case in point is Goodfellas…violent, but believable. The Departed is way beyond the “ya…right” limit. I think Mr. Scorsese decided how many people he wanted to blow away, and squeezed it into the movie. Not believable.
Finally, there are the political issues. Messrs. Sheen, Baldwin and Damon are avowed leftists. Why would they make a movie like this? If you want to know about the desensitization of America to crime and violence, watch this movie. This is a prime example of life imitating art. It isn’t the guns in our society that are the issue, it is the glorification of their use by movies like this.
To sum it up, hokey, violent, holey plot. If you want to watch a suspense movie, try The Breach, the true story of a Russian spy in the FBI that is taut and exquisitely done. Should be up for an Oscar this year. If you want to watch one of last year’s batch, try The Queen, an outstanding movie about the Royal Family’s reaction to the death of Diana. For pure entertainment, try Dream Girls. Motown heaven. I think I would leave The Departed, well, departed.
The plot is simple. The Irish Mafia places an informant in the Boston Police Department as the Boston Police Department simultaneously places an informant in the Irish Mafia. The tension centers on who is going to discover whom first. Even knowing the premise of the movie, it took me 45 minutes of this 2 ½ hour slog to begin to figure out who was whom. I spent a large part of the movie trying to explain it to my wife. Who?? What?? Where?? Why??
The plot is trite. It has a major hole in it if you give it any thought at all when the last brain is splattered on the wall. After you finally figure out what is going on, you can rapidly conclude how the movie is going to end, albeit you may be wondering how Scorsese will get it there…..and it takes a VERY LONG time to get there. Minimum, this is a two bathroom break flick.
The movie is filled with over acting, really overdone bad accents, and hokey symbolism. Jack Nicholson is great, but almost verges on a parody of himself, which makes me think that this movie was done partially tongue in cheek. It also makes me wonder if the portrayed Irish stereotype actually exists at any level. It is filled with such foul language and ethnic epithets that I can’t believe for a minute this is how Boston PD actually talks. If I were them, I would be outraged. Those of you who know me know that I am no prude, and my language can be colorful. I worked in the local Prosecutor’s office where this kind of trash talk was raised to an art form…and even I found this movie offensive.
Then there is the violence. Any Scorsese film is going to be violent, but there always seemed to be a purpose to the violence. Case in point is Goodfellas…violent, but believable. The Departed is way beyond the “ya…right” limit. I think Mr. Scorsese decided how many people he wanted to blow away, and squeezed it into the movie. Not believable.
Finally, there are the political issues. Messrs. Sheen, Baldwin and Damon are avowed leftists. Why would they make a movie like this? If you want to know about the desensitization of America to crime and violence, watch this movie. This is a prime example of life imitating art. It isn’t the guns in our society that are the issue, it is the glorification of their use by movies like this.
To sum it up, hokey, violent, holey plot. If you want to watch a suspense movie, try The Breach, the true story of a Russian spy in the FBI that is taut and exquisitely done. Should be up for an Oscar this year. If you want to watch one of last year’s batch, try The Queen, an outstanding movie about the Royal Family’s reaction to the death of Diana. For pure entertainment, try Dream Girls. Motown heaven. I think I would leave The Departed, well, departed.
Comments
I have not seen "The Departed" yet, but thanks for the critique. I did see "The Queen," and also "The Breach," and found them both to be very entertaining.
Keep those blogs coming!
SK