The Departed (2006)

An undercover Boston cop (Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio) and a mole (Oscar-winner Matt Damon) in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating the Irish Mob in South Boston.  The head of that Irish gang is Frank Costello played by three-time Oscar-winner Jack Nicholson and the main handlers for the undercover cop are played by Oscar-nominee (for this film) Mark Wahlberg and Emmy-winner Martin Sheen.  Things just get increasingly complicated as investigations on both ends of the law get deeper....and the cast just gets deeper too including several notable players including Alec Baldwin, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, and Raymond Winstone.  The legendary Martin Scorsese directed this and earned his first (and still only) Oscar for Best Director  This film also earned three additional Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture.  It was also a word-of-mouth box office smash and remains one of the more quotable crime dramas of the past twenty years.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

THE DEPARTED - 2006

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Corrigan, James Badge Dale, David O’Hara, Mark Rolston, Robert Wahlberg, Kristen Dalton, and Martin Sheen

Genre: Crime Drama (Audio clip)

I can't deny how purely rewatchable this movie is. Almost all of the performances are fantastic especially DiCaprio and Damon, it's never remotely predictable, the cast is STACKED and well-utilized, there's no shortage of quotable dialogue, and overall it just feels like Scorcese was purely cutting loose with music, camerawork, and editing at a bat-shit level not seen since Cape Fear....which coincidentally was also a remake like this. 🤔

And I also just remember being BLOWN AWAY by the ending when first seeing this in theaters too. But that's the thing...that last 10 minutes, it nags at me the more I revisit this film. Is it BALLSY, LAZY, NIHILISTIC, or POETIC? I'm honestly not sure as it might be all of those things...

BALLSY: I mean Scorcese or not, killing off your three biggest stars in the conclusion to a $90 million movie doesn't typically fly in Hollywood. ;) This was less than ten years after DiCaprio and Damon blew up as A-list stars...so props at least for going all the way.

LAZY: Then again, it's strangely sort of neat as it IS the easiest way to tie up every one's story without leaving lingering questions, especially for a narrative this intentionally convoluted. 

NIHILISTIC: Sure other movies have ended this way but in the case of Reservoir Dogs, that ending almost felt inevitable...here it just feels more random which MIGHT be the point...though it could leave much of what we have watched over the previous 130 minutes feeling meaningless. 🤔

POETIC: The whole conclusion of this can almost feel like a game of chess where all of the pieces just come into place in a satisfying manner...I mean it IS gratifying to see Wahlberg's Dingham standing there with medical slippers waiting for the kill. 

At the very least, Scorcese and crew obviously crafted an ending open to interpretation. That said, I still really like this movie - it's not PEAK Scorcese and that's not coming from the perspective of someone who just hangs on to his older films. To wit, I still think that his ending for Wolf of Wall Street is just perfection and that was seven years later.. And I still LOVE just how much suspense Scorcese and crew (especially his long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker) are able to wring out of the use of cell phones in this thing - this remains one of THE great cell phone movies and it makes the case that flip phones could be among the most cinematic forms of communication. Think about it. :)

And SPEAKING of Wahlberg….he was the only cast member to receive an Oscar nomination which in retrospect DOES seem kind of silly but was he deserving?  HELL yeah….he is relentlessly chewing the scenery here but doing SUCH a great job of it especially playing off of such a murderer’s row of top-flight actors no less.  As an actor, he was clearly trying to raise his game here for Scorsese and crew….and it shows. (Audio clip)   

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Well this IS the soundtrack for a Scorsese crime epic so in the grand tradition of Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Casino you KNOW it’s going to be wall-to-wall retro bangers including a reprise of “Gimme Shelter” from The Rolling Stones which just feels OBLIGATORY at this point.  And along those lines, there’s even more Rolling Stones along with The Beach Boys, The Allman Brothers Band, Bad Finger and of course the ICONIC “Shipping Back To Boston” from Boston’s own Dropkick Murphy’s which kicks off the scroll of the film’s title – about TWENTY minutes in strangely but that’s ok – as the camera pans past DiCaprio’s Billy do his fake short stint in prison.  It’s a fittingly raucous way to kick off the central plot. (Audio clip) 

Even though I’m likely going the most obvious route here, sorry I can’t help it as the placement of this one just WORKS….I’m referring to a tender love scene about half-way through between Billy and Vera Farmiga’s Madolyn roughly half-way through the film – she’s his therapist you see making a house call to his apartment late one rainy night….yeah when you DESCRIBE it, doesn’t sound particularly ethical does it?  But no matter it’s a nice scene with a nice ballad playing over it.  This song comes to us from London’s own all-time progressive rock collective Pink Floyd from their ICONIC album “The Wall” released in 1979….although THIS version which we hear was actually recorded live in 1990 by the song’s writer Roger Waters with new additional vocals from Van Morrison.  It’s a gorgeous song and now thinking back through Scorsese’s entire filmography, this MIGHT be the most romantic sequence he has ever filmed?  Well….maybe not, Age of Innocence…the scene in the carriage with DDL and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Regardless, the song is the DREAMY “Comfortably Numb.” (Audio clip)  

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Ok if I’ being honest, I have ALWAYS been a bit mixed on Nicholson's performance as it sometimes just feels like Scorcese let the cameras roll and gave him free reign to improv for hours on end.  For one thing, the accent is not particularly convincing and the other thing is that he ALMOST feels as if he’s in a different movie at points…..just kind of riffing, no matter what other folks on-screen are doing. (Audio clip) 

Regardless, he’s still DAMN entertaining to watch for the most part and in essence, he IS playing an aging old-school mobster whose impulses seem to be overtaking him to the detriment of his organization….so it makes sense on paper.  AND….this IS Jack Nicholson the LEGEND delivering what was likely his LAST truly memorable performance.  Well if we’re not counting The Bucket List or How Do You Know….likely not, so consider me STILL grateful to see him really cook on-screen among so many other notable actors who were very likely RELISHING the opportunity to play against him.  (Audio clip)  

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Back to the use of cell phones…..there are at least THREE highly tense moments in this films where much of the suspense arises from the usage of a cell phone.  Seriously in 2006, this felt pretty groundbreaking as these were a much newer feature in movies and MAJOR props for an even THEN old guard filmmaker like Marty to show them how it’s done.  Even though the actual TEXTING acumen by Leo’s Billy at one key moment pretty much defies explanation – mind you this was an older generation of cell phones where three different letters were tied to one number on the keypad…. (Audio clip) 

Now for me the absolute highlight occurs kind of late in the film – right around an hour and fifty-five minutes – and apparently this brief sorta-cell phone exchange is SO iconic that it was difficult for me to find a clean, ORIGINAL version of it on YouTube.  I guess a lot of aspiring actors have used as a demo reel and it’s been parodied a ton too.  Martin Sheen’s Captain Queenan has just died, brutally thrown off a roof no less….right after he had an impromptu meeting with Billy.  And GUESS who has possession of his cell phone now?  Yup Damon’s Colin who’s staring at this phone with blood all over it from the evidence on his desk….so suddenly he’s staring at this phone, maybe he should CALL the previous number to find out who the RAT is?  Hmmm…. (Audio clip) 

SO much of the tension of this scene as they each call other MOSTLY to silence is just watching each of their faces…..both actors are killing it with Damon just looking more scared while DiCaprio looks more curious, just a silent acting masterclass. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

I was SO SO tempted to possibly zag a bit and choose William Monahan for this category as his clever, bitingly funny Oscar-winning screenplay was clearly SO essential for what made this film work – I mean structurally juggling SO many different characters and giving them ALL at least a few interesting things to say….not an easy task for sure. (Audio clip)  

But at the end of the day, this is STILL Marty’s movie – whether you buy into the ending or not, most other even COMPETENT filmmakers couldn’t have pulled it off so effectively – THAT many main character deaths in success and not via montage like a Godfather movie – it would have come off as either too maudlin or silly in lesser hands.  Yes I KNOW….THE RAT.  So many folks are hung up on that last admittedly on-the-shot image of the rat darting across the windowsill – hey it’s a CHOICE! (Audio clip) 

And that’s what great directors DO….they make choices, they take risks even when not all of them pay off.  I mean just look at previous episode Megalopolis…..objectively NOT a good movie but its bizarre messiness could have only come from a talented filmmaker like Coppola, I enjoyed it for that reason.  Same goes here though gratefully almost all of the director’s choices actually pay off.  For pulling off the directing gig which finally won him his long-deserved Oscar, Martin Scorsese is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5 

I can VIVIDLY remember watching it live….with long-time buddies Speilberg, Lucas, and Coppola on-stage at the Oscars to present him with that award, truly thrilling!  Was Marty more DESERVING of this Oscar for directing better films?  Goodfellas, Raging Bull, previous episodes Killers of the Flower Moon and Taxi Driver all…hell yeah!  Still it’s a KICK to watch and Happy 20th Anniversary to this modern crime gem and a HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY to the Sullivan clan, the Costigan clan, and every other clan out there -  Irish and Non-Irish - who will be celebrating!    

Streaming on AMC+ & philo

And that ends another LACE CURTAIN MOTHERFUCKER review!