The Departed (2006)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"The Departed" is about two cops, played by Matt Damon (Bourne Identity) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), from opposite sides of the law, are playing their own undercover games within the Department of State Police in Boston and the local Irish mafia run by Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets); however, violence and bloodshed is the result when each of the cops use their respective channels to flush out the other. This could have bee a great movie, maybe the best of the year, but Scorcese and company tanked it in the last of Act 3 with a ridiculous amount of violence and plot twists to which the audience I saw it with could only laugh. It had a great story and great character writing. Every performance in the film was a great one, even Leo. Half way through the picture, I was thinking it may end up being the best crime drama to come along since 1995's "Heat," but as all the character arcs wrapped, it started to become ridiculous. My other criticism is the portrayal of women in this story. They're not many, but even the most professional woman in this little word of cops and crooks are shown as status symbols and without the ability to be a decent decision maker; dare I say, they're portrayed as whores on one level or another. This movie is par for the cinematic year. We've had so many movies come out which throw out its strengths with silliness in the end, example being "Little Miss Sunshine." I so wish I could suggest going to see this would-be great movie, but instead I have to call "The Departed" a serious disappointment from a hit-and-miss legendary director. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
So close to being a great movie, but even the supposedly great Martin Scorcese can't produce a movie this year (2006) without it tanking in the last act.