The cast was full of big names, although a lot of the actors were big names rather than good actors. When I say big names I mean in a Tom Cruise mega star type of way. This big actors don't usually act that well in films but are handsome chaps and everyone knows that it's Cruise, DiCaprio, Matt Damon pretending to be who ever the main character is in the film, they aren't usually very believable but we were expecting.
The film got a few 3 star ratings in a few papers and I was slightly surprised by this but this might be because of the length, it's 2 and half hours long, which is too long for a film and they should just cut the film until it's 2 hours max, ideally films should be 1 hour 30 minutes of quality.
Jack Nicholson is in the film as the uber bad guy and is top notch. I like Nicholson and in this film he does all the things I like watching him for. He is amusing, a bit crazy, a bit calm/thoughtful and a bit evil. Nicholson is always entertaining in a film and this film is no exception.
I can't be bothered to talk about all the stars in the film so here is a list stolen from IMDB
 | Leonardo DiCaprio | .... | Billy Costigan |
 | Matt Damon | .... | Colin Sullivan |
 | Jack Nicholson | .... | Frank Costello |
 | Mark Wahlberg | .... | Dignam |
 | Martin Sheen | .... | Oliver Queenan |
 | Ray Winstone | .... | Mr. French |
 | Vera Farmiga | .... | Madolyn |
 | Anthony Anderson | .... | Brown |
 | Alec Baldwin | .... | Ellerby |
 | Kevin Corrigan | .... | Cousin Sean |
The film is based on the excellent Hong Kong film INFERNAL AFFAIRS. It is really the script that is the big winner, it starts off neat and fast but then brings in a completely new twist on the whole area of working under cover and the idea of a rat.
I won't ruin the story to much for you but it's interesting and clever and a good remake, with decent actors. Decaprio and Damon do okay for most of the film, they perhaps do a bit of over acting towards the end. It's actually quite odd how similar DeCaprio and Damon look, I don't know if this was done on purpose or what.
I think the dialogue is worth mentioning, Mark Walburg and Alec Baldwin do some excellent smarmy 90's cop bravado swearing and being the tough guy. It's some awesome macho bullshit in the classic TV cop way.
I would say that this is probably the best film I have seen this year (yes even better than snakes on a plane) and well worth going to the cinema for.
I would give it an give it an 8 of 10 for the films this year. If you were talking about all time, it would drop to a 7 but hey that's not bad.
1 comment:
Nice review. I also really like The Departed. I have to disagree with you, though, about Jack Nicholson's performance. I thought he was too crazy. He didn't seem like the type to make it all the way up the criminal ladder. Anyway, if you want to know more about what I think, just go to http://themovinpictures.blogspot.com!
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