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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE DEPARTED
The Departed

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The Departed (2006)

92%
100%
94%
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92 %
Reviews Counted: 221 Fresh: 204  Rotten:17 Average Rating: 8.2/10
 
Consensus: A thoroughly engrossing, entertaining gangster drama. The Departed is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality that has infused director Martin Scorceses past triumphs. Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast that includes Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon, some critics say the film even tops its source material (the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs). The Departedmarks a triumphant return to form for Scorsese; it's his best-reviewed film since GoodFellas. more
 
Rated: 18
Runtime: 2 hrs 31 mins
Theatrical Release: 06-10-2006
Synopsis:
Director Martin Scorsese returns to his trademark style with the violent, bruised, and bloody feature THE DEPARTED. Scorsese filched the basic storyline from Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak's masterful 2002 Hong Kong action film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which saw a policeman going undercover as a... [More]
Director Martin Scorsese returns to his trademark style with the violent, bruised, and bloody feature THE DEPARTED. Scorsese filched the basic storyline from Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak's masterful 2002 Hong Kong action film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which saw a policeman going undercover as a mob member and a mob member infiltrating the police force. Scorsese transfers the action to Boston, positioning Leonardo Di Caprio as undercover cop William Costigan and Matt Damon as undercover mobster Colin Sullivan. While Costigan and Sullivan get into plenty of nail-biting situations that almost reveal their true identities, Scorsese gradually unravels his strong supporting cast, including Jack Nicholson as Sullivan's mob boss, Frank Costello; Ray Winstone as Costello's meat-headed muscle; Mark Wahlberg as a hot-headed police sergeant; and Vera Farmiga as a love interest for both Damon and DiCaprio's characters. THE DEPARTED finds Scorsese generously dipping his toes back into waters that will be warmly familiar to his biggest fans. Rolling Stones songs pepper the soundtrack, recalling the remarkable "Jumpin' Jack Flash" sequence in MEAN STREETS; bullets and blood punctuate every key scene, bringing TAXI DRIVER's explosive finale to mind; and the mobster-themed storyline is a thrilling return to GOODFELLAS territory. Nicholson and Winstone provide acting master-classes every time they appear, neatly complementing the blossoming talents of DiCaprio, Damon, and Wahlberg, while further veteran support comes in small roles for Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin. Scorsese is often criticized for affording precious little screen time to female characters, and THE DEPARTED won't quell those dissenting voices, although Farmiga's character proves to be more than a match for DiCaprio and Damon's posturings. But Scorsese followers who balked at his diversions into documentary filmmaking (NO DIRECTION HOME) and period epics (THE AVIATOR) will be delighted to find raw male machismo puncturing the screen once again in this frenetic entry into his celebrated oeuvre. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Vera Farmiga, Martin Sheen

Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: William Monahan, Siu Fai Mak, Felix Chong
Producer: Jennifer Aniston, Brad Grey, Brad Pitt, Graham King
Composer: Howard Shore

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 1, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • O-Sleeve

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Ratings Image

The story rattles along at such a lick there's little time to ponder the plot holes -- no mean feat in a film of this length and with so many fine actors competing for our attention.

Full Review | Comment
02/20/08 12:58 PM
Neil Smith
Channel 4 Film
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Ratings Image

Martin Scorsese returns to gangland in The Departed, a slick, soulful retelling of overrated Hong Kong actioner Infernal Affairs.

Full Review | Comment
10/10/06 03:15 AM
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Martin Scorsese has got his groove back.

Full Review | Comment
10/07/06 04:53 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image

Crackling with energy, featuring great actors sinking their teeth into the meatiest of roles and a plot that bubbles with tension, this is Scorsese’s finest film since Goodfellas.

Full Review | Comment
10/06/06 03:16 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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few directors can compose a movie with the power, grace and assurance that Scorsese brings to each shot and scene, and The Departed is more fun, and certainly more funny, than his last few films.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/06 03:16 AM
Ben Walters
Time Out
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Superbly written and brilliantly acted, this is a return to form for Scorsese - if this doesn't get him the Best Director Oscar, nothing will.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/06 03:16 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Owes a heavy debt to the original version, but this is a masterpiece all its own.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/06 03:16 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Back to the streets and with a stellar cast, Martin Scorsese proves once again that he’s the master of urban storytelling -- and of thrillingly violent filmmaking.

Full Review | Comment
10/02/06 05:14 PM
Roberto Sadovski
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image

Scorsese has made an incredible cover version of the original, imbued with every ounce of his artistic personality transforming it into something both familiar and new.

Full Review | Comment
04/18/08 06:57 AM
Brian Holcomb
Beyond Hollywood
Ratings Image

... a fantastically entertaining crime thriller, crackling with energy from beginning to end. ... But Nicholson's outrageous over-acting becomes a distraction.

Full Review | Comment
09/21/07 09:16 AM
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image

Scorsese revisits old territory in The Departed, and he doesn't do anything he hasn't done brilliantly several times before.

Full Review | Comment
07/30/07 08:06 AM
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Scorsese is clearly a master filmmaker but in my opinion, he's only phoning it in here. THE DEPARTED is a matter of been there, done that. Second tier Scorsese is still good, it just doesn't rank up there with his best work.

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 09:44 AM
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
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Probably the director's most taut piece of storytelling since Goodfellas.

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 05:58 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
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What makes this a Scorsese film, and not merely a retread, is the director's use of actors, locations and energy, and its buried theme. I am fond of saying that a movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.

Full Review | Comment
07/06/07 01:24 PM
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Freud claimed the Irish were the only people impervious to psychoanalysis. Scorsese goes about proving him wrong.

Full Review | Comment
06/26/07 07:37 PM
Kevin Koehler
Pretentious Musings
Ratings Image

Sometimes accused of failing to harness the kinetic energy that abounds in his films, Martin Scorsese has done such a fine job of balancing the heat and the cold here.

Full Review | Comment
04/28/07 04:17 PM
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
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The Departed doesn't improve in any way on Infernal Affairs, which served up a return to stylish Hong Kong action.

Full Review | Comment
03/30/07 09:56 AM
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
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Scorsese takes William Monahan's brilliant adaptation and completely makes it his own, resulting in not only one of the best movies of the year but also one of the best of his amazing career.

Full Review | Comment
03/24/07 11:57 AM
Brian Tallerico
UGO
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Scorsese's treatise on honour and trust has a sprawl that's at once epic and cohesive.

Full Review | Comment
03/15/07 10:44 AM
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Ratings Image

An over-plotted, pressure-cooked crime caper directed by Martin Scorcese which touches on every classic theme imaginable.

Full Review | Comment
02/10/07 01:52 PM
Kam Williams
EURWeb
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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