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Movies / On DVD / The Departed
The Departed

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The Departed (2006)

92%
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94%
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92 %
Reviews Counted: 222 Fresh: 205  Rotten:17 Average Rating: 8.2/10
 
Consensus: 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.
 

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The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 2 hrs 31 mins

Theatrical Release: Oct 6, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $132,310,442

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... 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. [More]

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:

Jan 8, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • O-Sleeve

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Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
N/A

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 Comment
04/18/08
Brian Holcomb
Beyond Hollywood
Ratings Image
9/10

The Departed heralds Martin Scorsese's return to the top of his game and simultaneously secures for the film a place in the pantheon of the very best of American crime cinema. Welcome back to Scorsese's mean streets.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com
Ratings Image
N/A

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 Comment
02/20/08
Neil Smith
Channel 4 Film
Ratings Image
A-

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

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image
2/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
07/30/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
B-

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 Comment
07/14/07
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Probably the director's most taut piece of storytelling since Goodfellas.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image
4/4

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 1 Comment
07/06/07
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Freud claimed the Irish were the only people impervious to psychoanalysis. Scorsese goes about proving him wrong.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/26/07
Kevin Koehler
Pretentious Musings
Ratings Image
86/100

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 Comment
04/28/07
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image
5/10

The Departed doesn't improve in any way on Infernal Affairs, which served up a return to stylish Hong Kong action.

Full Review | comment 5 Comments
03/30/07
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image
N/A

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 Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
UGO
Ratings Image
N/A

Scorsese's treatise on honour and trust has a sprawl that's at once epic and cohesive.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Ratings Image
3/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
02/10/07
Kam Williams
EURWeb
Ratings Image
3.5/4

A return to genre for Martin Scorsese, this cops and gangsters film is unqestionably entertaining.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/07/07
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
Ratings Image
N/A

The Departed's lucky-charmed score is one of many subliminal devices in the film: No one better lay a hand on Scorsese's Oscar.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/07/07
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image
5/6

You’ll have to go back to GoodFellas to find a Marty movie this fun, this enamored of language, of ethnic slurs, of “Gimme Shelter,” of explosive violence. Scorsese’s return to form is the year’s most dynamic film. Really, how could it not be?

Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
8/10

...the best thing the director has done in years.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/30/07
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image
N/A

The Departed has enough tension to keep you engrossed, and enough color for ten crime pictures. Scorsese obviously adores his expensive, expansive ensemble.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/06/07
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
8/10

The cast was a blast, playing each part off one another like a great chess match set up via the poetic images swirling through Scorsese’s mind.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/04/07
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
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