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Posted by Maggie (Guest) - Friday, October 20 2006, 0:21:01 (CEST)
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Marty Scores With 'Departed'

by Sam Mansourou

Whenever Martin Scorsese runs out of ideas, he does a gangster film. The asterisk next to that statement means that no director does the genre like him, and he is never better than when making another exploration of city street crime. The Departed is no exception.

Written by William Monohan, and adapted from the Hong Kong thriller, "Infernal Affairs", the film is vintage Marty, taking you willingly captive from the first scene, and finally releasing you when you realise you have had enough of 'that' world. Like Goodfellas and Casino, be prepared to drop everything and watch The Departed when you find it playing on the tube. This can be attributed to Scorsese's pure mastery of the film medium. Always telling the story at breakneck speed, one rarely notices they have just sat through a two and a half hour film.

Set in Boston, the cop drama follows the paths of two Staties, William Costigan (Leonardo Dicaprio), and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). Costigan is immediately assigned to infiltrate mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Thanks to tips from Costello -his boyhood father figure and real boss- Sullivan rises through the ranks in the department through a series of star making arrests. When Sullivan is assigned to the team investigating Costello, the mob boss's real plan for Colin since childhood comes to fruition. Both organizations discover there is a mole inside, and both Costigan and Sullivan rush to uncover the other's identity.

The all star cast prove that they came to work. Dicaprio is believable as the pressure increases for his character, by now a seasoned pro in the high stakes arena . Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin give hilarious and energetic performances, leaving the rest of the dialogue to Martin Sheen, which he impressively snacks on.

The only disappointment of the film is Nicholson. Proudly claiming that he didn't do any research for his character, the finished product shows that he should've. Over the top and uncertain at times, old Jack looks like the only preparation he made was practicing that devlish grin, and watching himself in Batman. It's a shame too, because the only down time in the film, between untterly captivating sequences and prime time performances, was him

The film's major vehicle, that of the antagonist, is Damon's character Sullivan, and Damon couldn't have done a better job. The actor shows other leading men in his genre how it's done with his fierce, unapologetic Sullivan, a man playing the straight life riddled with corrupt ambition. Look for him to get the nod come Oscar season.

Even though The Departed is by far the best 2006 has to offer, it probably won't take home the coveted Oscar. The language is...um...strong, and the gore is aplenty. The film's twist ending delivers a shocking sucker punch, and you leave the theater feeling like you have just gotten off a much needed roller coaster ride that took you on what must have seemed like a thousand highs, and a final freefall. But hey, that's Scorsese.

Releasing the film way ahead of selection time for Oscar contention, he figured out by now that people need a little time after the initial shock of one of his movies. Like the great and Oscar-less filmmakers before him, Scorsese doesn't release films, he releases giant waves that knock over everything in their paths before returning to their homes. He'll give the voters time to take it all in, but movies like The Departed don't win Oscars, they just influence the ones that do.

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