logan J. fowler is the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy …
Every March, right before (or if the weekday falls right, on) St. Patty’s Day I make sure I grab a Guinness and kick back and watch a little movie about the Irish mafia that was directed by Martin Scorsese, rewarded with the Best Director Oscar thanks to this movie in the 2007Academy Awards. Cue the Dropkick Murphy’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.”
I’m, of course, talking about The Departed.
I saw this movie with my dad opening weekend, and the film continues to obliterate my senses watch after watch. Not only does it have an incredible soundtrack (which the Rolling Stones also appears on, due to the fact that Scorsese is a huge fan), but the cast? Who ISN’T in this movie?! Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen … it’s a series of actors busting at the seams and they all are fantastic in it.
The movie takes place in Boston (naturally) where mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) takes a young boy named Colin under his wing. Colin (Damon) grows up and infiltrates the police as an employee allowing his father figure to remain one step ahead of the fuzz. Meanwhile, Billy (DiCaprio) wants to be a cop straight up but the undercover department of Queenan (Sheen) and Dignam (Wahlberg, never better) believe Billy to be better suited to go behind the scenes and work to Costello’s favor. The movie tension arises quickly as both try to figure out who the other is and the finale is a major bloodbath.
The Departedactually has a lot of characteristics that appear in the 2002 Hong Kong Film Infernal Affairs. The Boston-based film is actually on record as a remake, and while I have not sought out the foreign film on which it is primarily sourced, I’m sure many people have due to high interest. That movie has critical acclaim all its own, but for me, I’ll just work with what I know best, and that’s The Departed. [Editorial Note: The Infernal Affairs, while highly acclaimed does not hold up, especially when you’ve seen The Departed first.]
Brimming with a good bit of comedy, action, romance, tension, a boss score and a wicked good cast, The Departed didn’t win Best Picture of its respective year for nothing. Scorsese’s tale of the Irish mafia is just too slick, too stylish, and too good to miss. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. I give it five out of five stahs (Boston accent, there).
