The Writeup: Fast-paced,
tense and bursting with amazing performances from the leads and supporting cast
(also including Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone, Vera Farminga and Alec Baldwin),
it’s obvious why the Academy went cock-a-hoop for this when it was realised
seven years ago. Bad boys DiCaprio and Damon are both menacing and heroic in
their roles, convincing you to be at once rooting for them and hoping they get
their comeuppance in equal measure.
But with so many fine actors vying for our attention, it’s
sometimes hard to keep pace with the action you’re watching. Some of the plot
just doesn’t ring true. I had a seriously niggling feeling when Sullivan seemed
nonplussed at murdering Costello – despite an opening sequence positing the old
man as something of a father figure to Sullivan. Further to this, with Sullivan
having grown up surrounded by mobsters, and with Costigan’s family ties to the mob,
it seemed strange that neither man (of around the same age) would not be aware
of the other’s existence already.
All of this only comes in retrospect, of course. The reality
being that the film is so slick, hurtling toward its bloodbath finale with such
aplomb that there’s little time to even think about such plot holes – let alone
get caught up in them.
Ultimately, while The
Departed is certainly engrossing, gritty and authentic, and is clearly more
than just a morality tale, I just don’t think it’s worthy of the esteem with
which it has been steeped. Character motivations remain unclear to me; the
reason we should care about these characters seems lost – and the occasional
plotline is left untied (odd, for a film with such few survivors). Yes, its brutal, gory entertainment, but even
with the questions it leaves lingering, I’ve forgotten most of it already.
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