#188: The Departed

Release Date: October 6th, 2006

Format: Streaming (Netflix)

Written by: William Monahan

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

4 Stars

As the 20-year anniversary of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed creeps near, it seems to me that its legacy is a slight misinterpretation. You see, it won Best Picture (and Best Director) back in 2007, and the perception today is that it was more or less a mea culpa from the Academy for snubbing Marty’s other Best Picture entries up until that point (namely, and especially, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas). 

This perceived apology vote has cast a bit of a shadow over The Departed in the years since its release, and I’m not sure that’s fair. Watching it tonight, I don’t think it’s lesser Scorsese at all. It’s a compelling film. The irony of The Departed winning Best Picture shouldn’t be that it’s not of a certain quality, but rather that it’s the type of pulpy, genre filmmaking that the Academy usually ignores because it doesn’t seem like high art.

The dialogue, from screenwriter William Monahan, is punchy, the performances are so big they would make James Cagney proud, and Scorsese pumps energy into the film’s veins with his signature editing, camera movements, and classic hard rock soundtrack. 

He’s in pure crowd-pleasing mode and it’s a damn good time.

Flip a coin when trying to pick the film’s best performance. Each actor seems perfectly tailored to their role, and boy does Marty let them cook. There’s a tortured, sympathetic Leonardo DiCaprio performance as Billy Costigan, the kid trying to escape his family’s criminal past by becoming a cop, only to be forced to go undercover in the criminal underworld that he was trying to escape. There’s also his bizarro counterpart, the slimy Colin Sullivan (played to great effect by an all-American looking Matt Damon), groomed by neighborhood criminals since childhood to infiltrate the Boston Police Department and protect the mob from the inside. And there’s also Vera Fermiga’s performance as the tough, smart, but flawed Madolyn Madden, the Boston PD’s resident shrink who’s conned by Colin into a relationship, only to later develop feelings for the vulnerable Billy (did I mention the movie is pulpy?). 

If the three leads don’t do it for you, there are half a dozen supporting performances that are knockouts. Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone…each makes an indelible mark.

Which brings me to Jack Nicholson, in his last great film role as mob kingpin Frank Costello. It’s trademark unhinged Jack, and Scorsese utilizes him in the best way, giving him space to play and letting his gravitas (and those eyebrows) do the talking. 

In a way, Jack’s performance embodies the movie itself: energetic, devilish fun.          

So, did the Academy give Marty the award as an apology? Probably. 

But is it fun to think about old, stuffy Academy voters being shamed into righting past wrongs by voting for a film they would dismiss if it had been made by any other filmmaker? Definitely.