Arnz Thanks for Thompson excerpt ...as well as....blog excerpts.... :) As to EB Douglas If you recall he is the reviewer who I mentioned to Arnz long ago on David Poland thread .......a person who seemed to have an 'agenda' when it came to "TD".... As once I read his comments below I wondered if his attitude toward "TD" might be 'colored' by his desire to see Eastwood's "Flag of Our Fathers" succeed ....as in doing his best to try to diminish the "TD" ever growing buzz...he has been quite active since day one on both Poland and Wells's blogs at every turn telling posters why "TD" is nothing special.... And..yes...he was the one who at first was telling posters on Poland's blog that Scorsese SAW "IA" and he KNEW that because he asked him....then when Arnz questioned him about that comment....he CHANGED his response to that he just 'thought' Scorsese had... To me his comment on Poland's "Hot Blog" said it all As much as I think Scorsese deserves an Oscar, I don't think he'll get it for The Departed...or even a nomination. Like I said, it's not that ambitious project and maybe people keep comparing it to Casino because he uses some of the same music and visuals. If they didn't give him an Oscar for Aviator, I think he's going to have to settle for the Lifetime Achievement award, and then maybe he can pull an Eastwood and start making movies worthy of an Oscar

Newsweek Review
think this is a new one....Review from Newsweek Love the title...Get That Mole Removed By David Ansen Newsweek Oct. 9, 2006 issue - Martin Scorsese's profanely funny, savagely entertaining "The Departed" is both a return to the underworld turf he's explored in such classics as "Mean Streets" and "GoodFellas" and a departure. What's new is that he's hitched his swirling, white-hot style to the speeding wagon of narrative. For all his brilliance, storytelling has never been his forte or his first concern. Here he has the devilishly convoluted plot of the terrific 2002 Hong Kong cop thriller "Infernal Affairs" to work from, and it's a rich gift. Screenwriter William Monahan has done a terrific job transposing the story to ethnically fraught Boston. He's added many savory (and unsavory) new elements while staying true to the cat-and-mouse twists and turns of Alan Mak and Felix Chong's original script. (Strangely, there's no acknowledgment that it's a remake until deep into the end credits.) "The Departed" is the tale of two moles. Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is a clean-cut rising star in the Boston Police Department's Special Investigative Unit, which is determined to bring down the kingpin of the Irish-American mob, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). But in fact he's Costello's man, groomed since childhood to infiltrate the police force. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), who grew up trying to escape from his working-class, criminal background, is now up to his neck in mob activities, working as Costello's trusted associate. What only two people in the world know is that he's actually a cop, planted to tip the police to his boss's every move. Desperately unhappy to be forced into the identity he tried to escape, he's becoming emotionally unraveled. The plot thickens when both sides realize that there's an informer in their midst, and the search for the rat begins. The task of uncovering the mole inside the force is assigned to Sullivan, who is the mole, while the paranoid, volatile Costigan must pretend to find the mob's Judas before he gets discovered and whacked. Complicating matters further, both men fall for the same woman, the psychotherapist Madeleine (Vera Farmiga), who doesn't know either's secret. The symmetries and complications are pitched on the edge of absurdity, and Scorsese dives headfirst into the fray, simultaneously playing it for maximum suspense and a kind of mad, blood-spattered comedy. You often find yourself laughing and gasping at the same time. Nicholson's gaudy, racist, foulmouthed mobster, first shown only in satanic shadows, is a flamboyantly depraved villain, and Jack plays him with Jacobean gusto. But the entire cast is firing on all cylinders. The first half of the movie belongs to Damon, oozing the confidence, charm and false modesty of a master deceiver. DiCaprio, his eyes unable to mask the torment of a man whose identity is slipping away from him, dominates the second half. This is DiCaprio's coming-of-age role: he's finally put boyhood behind him. Then there's Mark Wahlberg's mad-dog Ser-geant Dignam, a cop whose default mode is raging irrational hostility; Alec Baldwin's hilariously blunt police supervisor Ellerby; Martin Sheen's Queenan, who calls the shots for Costigan and is as much his father figure as Costello is for Sullivan. It's a great ensemble, rounded out by Farmiga's smart, decidedly unconventional shrink. The Departed" is Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years. But it's not for the faint of heart. It's rude, bleak, violent and defiantly un-PC. But if you doubt that it's also OK to laugh throughout this rat's nest of paranoia, deceit and bloodshed, keep your eyes on the final frames. Scorsese's parting shot is an uncharacteristic, but well-earned, wink. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15078349/site/newsweek/

Here is the full review from Faraci at CHUD: http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=reviews&id=7778 It has some scene spoilers. As much as I appreciate the films he has made over the last decade, there is no denying that The Departed is Scorsese’s best film since Goodfellas. It’s just a fucking awesome movie. This is the part of the review where I would usually call out one actor for exceptional work – this is very hard to do with The Departed because the cast works together so well, and without ego, and each and every one of them is working at the very top of their game. The plot of The Departed is a closely linked web, and the cast reflects that perfectly, almost without a single misstep. With The Departed Damon further establishes himself as an honest to God fine actor – he’s magnetic in every scene and you find yourself rooting for him, even as he never lets you forget that he’s a scheming scumbag. What’s best is that he never has a moment of doubt, he never wonders whether or not he’s doing the right thing. Damon also has a baby face, but unlike DiCaprio his wide body and features telegraph a subtle menace. He works so well in the Bourne films because he looks so invisible while obviously maintaining the capacity to hurt you very badly. I feel like a lesser director would have swapped the roles, making Damon be the cop on the street up to his knees in human sewage and keeping DiCaprio behind a desk. But Scorsese is a master, and he understands that DiCaprio in the field feels vulnerable while Damon’s smile makes him the serpent in the garden. Wahlberg has few scenes, and on paper serves mostly as a plot device, but on celluloid he’s an earthy street-brawler, the perfect counterpoint to Ray Winstone’s sadistic Mr. French (another fucking phenomenal performance – this character could sustain his own film, easily). The two actors share almost no screen time and yet their scenes feel like they’re playing off of one another. Scorsese doesn’t excessively cut back and forth – each actor gets his own story comfortably told – but he intertwines the tales with clinical precision. DiCaprio and Damon are dynamite, and the excellence only escalates when they get together at the end in an all-too brief encounter. The Departed is Scorsese’s best film in a decade. There’s no arguing this – the movie is filled with the kind of snap and sizzle that his best work contains, the kind of snap and sizzle so many have tried for but never replicated.

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Trying to contribute - hope this is a new one: From The Cinema Source: The Departed Review By: Clayton Davis ClaytonDavis@TheCinemaSource.com It’s a good, solid hit for the man, Mr. Martin Scorsese. Everyone has been wondering if this is the year he’ll receive his long overdue Oscar and I’m very comfortable stating that this will NOT be the year unfortunately. The Departed is a remake of the Hong-Kong film Infernal Affairs which tells the story of two men, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) whom are on two opposites sides of the law and seem to have their lives revolving around one of the most notorious gangsters, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy comes from a family of mafia lords and crime smugglers, however he seems to find his way into the honorable profession of law enforcement and wanting to make a difference. After his graduation from the academy, he is made an offer that involves getting entangled with the roots of his family and becoming the one thing he swore to fight against. He is discharged from the police and serves a one-year prison sentence and upon his departure, joins the crowd of Costello made up of scandalous thugs and convicts, in order to gain information and evidence to convict the felon. But Costello has some tricks up his sleeve and his infamous nature is guarded by the inside of the commandment. Many years prior to Billy’s infiltration, Costello befriends a young boy and makes him his own personal messenger and protégé, Colin Sullivan. Colin is well trained and Frank convinces him to join the Boston State Police as his source of crime and information. He tips Frank off for police operations while quickly moving his way up the ladder of success in the department. The two men accept their tasks and we are thrown into the ultimate story of corruption, deceit and loyalty. Billy Costigan is the most complex character thanks to the powerful performance by Leonardo DiCaprio. Billy has his own personal demons and is in constant battle within himself, from his crimes with Costello to his loss of humanization. Billy seems to lose himself in the film and is in long search of redemption for his misdemeanors. DiCaprio is truly a gifted and talented actor and continues to show us that he isn’t the same boy/heartthrob from Titanic, his Billy is perplexing and utterly haunting. DiCaprio’s performance is the best of the cast but I’m afraid the role doesn’t garner the “Oscar scene” to gather true awards attention. He does have some powerful clips, although they’re a part of an action flick that few actors can seem to find their way out of and onto a short list called the Best Actor race. The film would need to be a unanimous hit for him to pull off nomination #3. His Boston accent is great and the fury that he finds in his character is remarkable. I just don’t feel his character can be appreciated and admired the way it should be. Matt Damon also continues to show us that he isn’t just Will Hunting. From his underrated performance in Syriana, Damon has been trying to show us a different part of him each time. Colin is the most hated man of the film, hands down. From his manipulation of the law to his constant deceit and betrayal of his peers, Damon truly finds his character’s axis. Colin Sullivan is greedy in power, arrogant in thoughts, and degrading in aura. The powerful and well put together screenplay elevates what could have been a very typical story and turns it into an action genre with slices of drama sequences that some films only dream of being. The pace of the film is just right with all the right decisions being made. Scorsese builds scenes with so much suspense that it’s terribly hard not to become knotted in the film and be at the edge of your seat. Jack? Well…Jack, I believe is on his way to another nomination. Frank Costello is one of the most malevolent, immoral, sinful men of recent film history. Jack is the man and while he deserves the acclaim that he hopefully will receive for the role, he is in no way walking to the podium to accept a fourth Oscar. Even though he does many wicked things in the film, you start to admire the spirit and reputation of Frank Costello. He is the best put together player, head to toe, from his monologues about his past to his devilish humor; he chews scenery so well that he bleeds out the screen. There is no real reason to reiterate how great Jack is but it is great to see those sunglasses at the Kodak Theater from time to time. While The Departed is jam-packed with suspense and thrills, there is a huge flaw that befalls the film and it’s its extremely weak ending. The film builds you up to a climax you cannot wait to see and experience but unfortunately, the end result is rather dull, flat and bland. While it didn’t destroy the film entirely, it did enough damage to not make it a cinematic gem. Also, the entrance of Vera Farmiga’s character as Madeleine, the police authority psychiatrist who starts to date Colin and ends up webbed in a love triangle with Billy is rather forced and unnecessary. It’s a bit too cheesy to suffice and the dramatic elements were enough without bringing in a tedious romance. What are The Departed's chances for the upcoming awards season? I’ll say Jack Nicholson for supporting, the three-person writing team in the adapted screenplay category and a few technical nominations including sound, sound editing, editing and Howard Shore’s potent score. Scorsese could find a spot in the Director’s five but the film is too “something.” I can’t think of what it is yet, but whatever it is there’s an overabundance. The Globes will probably snap at the film because it’s very reminiscent of Scorsese’s previous works like Goodfellas and Gangs of New York but there’s no Weinstein’s to truly get it out there and appreciated. The supporting cast is very comical and illustrious especially Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen as the two detectives that are the sole knowledgeable officers of Billy’s real identity. The film is a solid effort with a solid result but Scorsese should start writing his speech for the honorary Oscar and enjoy the spotlight as one of the best, if not the best director of modern time. The film rips at you from inside and leaves a lucid impingement for all areas to be felt. Movie Grade: A- http://www.thecinemasource.com/v3/movieinfo.php?movieid=2407&wordcount=0

Thanks, lena. :) I think the one you posted was written by a reviewer at theoscarigloo.com, that is why it talks a lot about award potential. It was written while the film was still being -*test*-('")-screened. Here is James Berardinelli's 4-star review: http://www.reelviews.net/movies/d/departed.html Some parts: In making The Departed, Scorsese has retained the essential plot structure of Infernal Affairs but has transformed the movie into something truly his own. Characters are better defined and situations are given an opportunity to breathe. None of this is done at the cost of pacing; The Departed is as suspenseful as anything the director has previously achieved. This movie deserves mention alongside Scorsese's most celebrated movies: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Age of Innocence. On-screen talent pools don't get much deeper than this one, with A-list actors like Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin accepting supporting roles. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon prove two crucial things: they are not interchangeable and, when pushed by someone who can direct actors, they can give riveting performances. DiCaprio has displayed growth in each of his appearances for Scorsese, and this is by far the best work he has done in his career. Jack Nicholson is in top form, providing a diabolical villain who can deliver a monologue with unparalleled verve. His part is showy enough that it will be virtually impossible for him to be ignored at Oscar time. Up-and-coming actress Vera Farmiga and British tough guy Ray Winstone round out a cast that, if not perfect, is close to it. Two technical hallmarks of Scorsese's films are in evidence. Michael Ballhaus' cinematography is intense and moody. Even though a significant portion of the movie was shot in New York City, the feel is "all Boston." Howard Shore provides the score, but the most notable aspect of the soundtrack is the near-perfect song selection. For the third time in his career, Scorsese uses the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" (see also Goodfellas and Casino). He also employs a cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" during a key sequence.

thanks for the reviews 8) here's a bit more from Faraci at CHUD... who gives it 9.5/10 :D :D The Departed makes few missteps, but one of them is not giving Martin Sheen enough screentime. I imagine there was a draft somewhere in which Sheen’s Captain Queenan gets as much attention as Frank Costello. The casting of Nicholson skewed things, though, leaving Sheen much less time to make an impression as the light side of the movie’s great moral divide. He succeeds, no doubt helped by his own TV presidential baggage. And despite being teamed in many of his scenes with the completely spotlight stealing Mark Wahlberg as exquisitely foul-mouthed Dignan.

Thanks will. But I have to say unlike Berardelli, I never thought Leo and Matt were interchangeable as actors to begin with.

Has this been posted already? http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/films_out_this_week/the_departed South Boston. The Massachusetts State Police Department is hell-bent on taking down Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) – from the inside. Rookie recruit Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a streetwise “Southie”, is sent undercover, but Frank already has his own mole inside the police in the form of the fast-rising Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon)... “No one gives it to you,” rasps the opening voiceover by mobster Frank Costello (Nicholson). “You have to take it.” A crane shot swoops across the street and into a storefront – the place is Boston, the time Some Years Ago – and we see a wide-eyed kid sat at the drinks counter, straw in mouth, as Costello collects a protection fee from the quivering owner. The kid’s head is down, eyes averted, but he can’t resist a sideways glance as the menacing, charismatic man in conspicuous shades and loud clothes pauses to direct a lewd comment at the owner’s teenage daughter. She grimaces before breaking into a coy smile. Frank catches the kid’s glance, holds it. He asks him about school, family, church, cranking out a gag (“I did well at school – it’s what’s called a paradox”) and dispensing a little wisdom (“Church wants you in place – kneel, stand, kneel, stand”) before pouring money in the lad’s hand with an offer of work. Martin Scorsese’s 21st feature is just three minutes old but it’s hooked you already. The prologue’s pure GoodFellas and it’s this angle – Marty’s remarried to the Mob! – that’s sure to excite, as well it should. But he’s also just got hitched to the law for the first time, The Departed being as much about police procedure and corrupt cops as gangsters. This is Scorsese’s Serpico, his French Connection, his Heat, and he brings the same eye for anthropological detail to the boys in blue as he does to his beloved wiseguys. The same themes, too, with both good cop Billy (DiCaprio) and bad cop Colin (Damon) caught in a violent purgatory of sin, dysfunction and alienation as they claw towards some kind of lousy redemption. This might be a ‘crime’ film propelled by slick plotting and emphatic cross-cutting, but The Color Of Money and Cape Fear have already shown how Scorsese can infuse any genre with his own indelible style. The Departed, too: its sharp edges are clouded by the ghosts of Johnny Boy, Travis Bickle, Jake La Motta, Rupert Pupkin and Sam Rothstein. Another ghost, forever hovering, is the movie on which The Departed is based: Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. That it’s only a ghost and not anything as physical as a blueprint is because Scorsese and Boston-born screenwriter William Monahan have made it their own, the former insisting The Departed is not a remake, the latter claiming that he avoided seeing the film and worked only from a translation of the Chinese script. The pitch is the same in both movies and they ask identical questions about identity – where does the performance end? – but the similarities stop there. Andrew Lau’s stylish 2002 original plays like John Woo or Ringo Lam with less blood; this plays like Scorsese with buckets of the stuff. Heads explode. Cars explode. Speakers explode, music blaring as bursts of especially colourful profanity, homophobic jibes and racist slants turn up the volume still higher. And while Michael Ballhaus’ mobile camerawork is less dazzling than it was on GoodFellas, less rich than on The Age Of Innocence, it’s always urgent: a neon-drenched chase sequence and a jud-jud-juddery gun battle squeezing a few last beads of sweat from, respectively, expressionistic framing and staccato freezeframes. Even better, Ballhaus’ use of a flat, almost monochromatic, palette makes sudden sense when the so-red-it-stings blood begins to flow, gush and spray. But as Scorsese once noted of Sam Fuller’s movies, “The emotional violence is much more terrifying than physical violence.” And so we have Nicholson’s crimelord (a riot, if a touch OTT in true Big Jack style) unravelling as he seeks to paint his twilight years crimson, and DiCaprio and Damon becoming ever more desperate as their game of cat-and-rat draws tighter. Think the set-up is already fiendishly complicated? Then factor in this: Damon’s Colin is assigned to find the mole in the police department, à la himself, when his superiors get wise to the leak. The irony. Or this: Colin’s girlfriend Madeleine (Vera Farmiga, terrific) is a shrink charged to treat DiCaprio’s Billy... with heated results. It’s little wonder the pair go into mental meltdown. And if Damon is somewhat subdued throughout, DiCaprio fully justifies his place as Marty’s new muse, rewarding the monobrowed auteur’s faith with The Departed’s most dangerous turn. If this, as the director has hinted, truly is Scorsese’s gangster exit, he can leave with his head held high.

Thanks, stormyteacup! We were anticipating the TotaFilm Review... :) There's another one from Associated Press here

LOTSA reviews!
Okay... BIG THANKS for all the new stuff here. Overall...I think most of the reviews for TD are INCREDIBLE & more positive than I could've dreamed. :lol: 2 interesting takes on Damon's Colin from 2 different reviews. This one is EXACTLY how I've been perceiving Colin from the start: Colin is the most hated man of the film, hands down. From his manipulation of the law to his constant deceit and betrayal of his peers, Damon truly finds his character’s axis. Colin Sullivan is greedy in power, arrogant in thoughts, and degrading in aura. And I like this description too except I know I won't be rooting for Colin. :lol: With The Departed Damon further establishes himself as an honest to God fine actor – he’s magnetic in every scene and you find yourself rooting for him, even as he never lets you forget that he’s a scheming scumbag. What’s best is that he never has a moment of doubt, he never wonders whether or not he’s doing the right thing. sky... Really liked this part from Newsweek: The Departed" is Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years. But it's not for the faint of heart. It's rude, bleak, violent and defiantly un-PC. But if you doubt that it's also OK to laugh throughout this rat's nest of paranoia, deceit and bloodshed, keep your eyes on the final frames. Scorsese's parting shot is an uncharacteristic, but well-earned, wink. Whoa. JUST 3 DAYS TO GO!!!

Lena, Will, and Stormy Thanks for all the new reviews .....lots to read and absorb.... :) But for now off the top of my pointy peanut head ....agree with Lena...never felt that DiCaprio/Damon were 'interchangeable' as actors....and..Stormy...certainly agree with the Chud reviewer's speculation about the diminishing of Sheen's role in order to give more screen time to Nicholson....

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Saw a new commercial for TD tonight which highlighted reviews - one liners . The ones I remember were Richard Schiekel (spelling may be correct) from TIME (so where's his review?), and Detroit Free Press and Sixty Minute Previews. Wonder why they didn't use the Variety and Hollywood Reporter quotes ? Sorry, can't quite remember what the one liners were, the ad did start off with TIME in big lettering.

Gettin hard to remember what's been posted already. This one may have been: Empire Magazine online . The reviewer compares it to Serpico or The French Connection **** out of 5 http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=10616