Andrew Brennan

this movie is one the best Scorsese, in fact one of the best movies ever made, yet somehow you gave it a rotten review i guess a pretty much everyone and the oscar academy were wrong then.

Oct 3 - 12:49 PM

Zach Caruso

YOU SUCK!

Jan 4 - 03:58 PM

David Criddle

A bit over-the-top, both to say that 1. It's the same as everything Scorsese's done before; that there's nothing new here, 2. that because he's doing things he's done before, that this is somehow a Mediocre film.

You can't let personal, fairly arbitrary expectations drive your critical judgment. I think that's what you've done here.

Feb 13 - 02:43 AM

Jake Sundstrom

Whether you believe this is something new to Scorsese or not is irrelevant. The point is: was it or was it not a good film?

If you don't think so, fair enough. But it sounds like the only thing you have against this film is that it isn't completely revolutionary to the director. And I don't think that's fair.

Mar 1 - 11:13 PM

Scott Hughes

Just saw this. I didn't connect with the main characters (except for Jack). I also thought the Mark Wahlberg character over the top and actually found myself laughing at the delivery - felt like I was in an R rated SNL skit. Some of the screen writing was too on the nose e.g. Jack falling into a trash can and Sheen's character literally falling at the foot of Leonardo. Thumbs down.

Apr 25 - 01:00 PM

Patrick Kenny

havent seen this but really want to though i generally have huge dislike for gangster flicks and especially scorsese films but the cast sells this one for me

Dec 7 - 07:25 PM

John Fleming

I see the point of this, in that Scorsese has done this better in other films, particularly Goodfellas. But it's pretty unfair to Marty to denegrade anything he does below Goodfellas. If I had to recommend Goodfellas or Departed, I'd go with the former, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't also say to check out The Departed.

Feb 15 - 03:42 PM

Nick Gascich

Man, awful review. The Departed is bad because it wasn't something he didn't do before? Big effing deal, eh? You judge a movie on it's own merits when reviewing it. If you don't think it's Scorsese's best, then sure, fair enough, most people will agree with you. But, to say it's a bad movie because it's not Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, or Goodfellas is utter stupidity. You even admit that you're not "mainstream", that's cool, but that doesn't mean you have to say a good movie is bad for a stupid reason.

Feb 24 - 10:20 PM

Sam Fleming

well first off I agree with Jake007
and second of all this is my favorite movie. all you talk about is what hes done in the past compared to this, you never address what you thought of the movie, this is a classic mobster movie, yes. But it is also much more than that, when people start dying at the end it is a true representation of real irish boston mob life, this movie is a work of art in the way that we want to root for EVERYONE, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. but i do appreciate you giving your honest opinion

good day and God Bless :)
Sam F.

Jun 22 - 11:52 AM

Matt Macfarlane

I struggled a little with this film, I have to say. I'm a massive Scorsese fan, but I'm still struggling to understand his choice of DiCaprio as his new "muse". One of the amazing things about Scorsese's truly great work, such as Goodfellas and Raging Bull, is that he combines his talent for film-making with an ability to cast the right actors in the right roles - think De Niro, Pesci, Liotta - even a young Jodi Foster in Taxi Driver. Both Di Caprio and (probably even more so) Matt Damon just leave me cold, and I think the film suffers as a result

Aug 6 - 02:53 PM

Susan Talbot

I get what people are saying, about how Scorcese does such great films, he should be forgiven when he flubs it a bit. I'm divided about "The Departed": on one hand, it's brilliant, if standing alone, but also confusing, which is okay with me. I LIKE confusing films that make me think.

On the other hand, being from Massachusetts and living through the very scandal (Whitey Bulger) depicted here, makes one both a bit jaded, and also (oddly) protective. This is OUR turf, "Marty"! And don't just haul freaking lazy Jack Nicholson out of his ego-bath to have him cake-walk his way through such an important role! He nearly ruined the film, along with its VERY erratic bunch of premises.

Only Matt Damon's, Leo DiCaprio's and Martin Sheen's performances saved this film! Especially the former two, and Mark Wahlberg, because they were some of the few who could master a believable Eastern Massachusetts accent, in two cases because they CAME FROM HERE!

One of my pet peeves is bad accents, like my fave actor, Michael Caine, trying to sound like a Texan in "Secondhand Lions"--it was PAINFUL! And there is NO accent (I maintain) harder to get right than the Eastern MA "Cah" and "Pahk". Just watch "The Perfect Storm"--once gain, ONLY Wahlberg gets it right.

Other than that, it was riveting, if a bit over the top. I especially enjoyed the HUGE mountain of controversy they made over Billy Costigan being both from Southie and "The North Shore" (as in Rockport). And even more ridiculous was the notion that ANYONE would gush over that shrink's degree from UMass/Amherst! They HATE UMass in Boston (sour grapes since BC wasn't chosen back in '48 as the State U.!). I should know. I went to UMass and you're lucky to get any Bostonians to admit it even exists, much less praise it.

I also had huge problems with the "set-up" scene with the Chinese arms dealer, in which Frank Costello lectures them on the ethics of what kind of gun to bring to an illegal swap meet! "In THIS country" (he intones sanctimoniously, obviously channeling the "You can't handle the truth" speech from "A Few Good Men"), we don't bring automatic weapons to a deal!" Huh? A breach of etiquette? Noticed by one of the biggest gangsters in Mass. history? NO! Run those "chinks" (he calls 'em that!) out of town!

Now that I think about it, this is really Scorsese's Waterloo. I mean, despite it's many good points, can you think of ANY film he's done that is this flawed? I can't.

So, it's good, fake-Bostonian gangster fun for...some of the family. Time to do another period piece--as "The Age of Innocence" was so excellent! (I mean it).

Jun 10 - 05:08 PM

Hill Roxx

ROB You don't appreciate movies that will be on the screens of many households forever. YOU ARE THE SAME PERSON who gave The Green Hornet 5/5 so you utterly don't know what you talking about!

Jan 27 - 10:53 AM

Kirk Stock

You jerks all mock the critics who don't like this movie, and Rod Hilton's jerk readers mock the commenter who talks about how The Departed is her favorite movie and loves it (without even insulting the script).

GO FLAME IDIOT ROD HILTON'S ABRIDGED SCRIPT OF THE DEPARTED HERE: http://www.the-editing-room.com/departed.html#disqus_thread

Apr 20 - 10:54 PM