A Very (Parenthetical) Review

(Note: I, too, find it weird to be reviewing "The Departed." Even weirder, a friend of mine claims she hasn't seen it. I do not understand, and suspect heinous fuckery.)

Late to the Party*: The Departed

* I wasn't late to this particular party. A friend was. Yes, this is the second mention of my "friend" who supposedly "hasn't seen it." Please, feel free to mock my "friend."

Martin Scorsese has made some awesome movies. DUH. I'd like to thank the Academy for "Most Unnecessary Sentence Ever."

There's Taxi Driver, for one. There's Raging Bull, for another. And then there's The Departed, a cops-and-robbers epic. Epic like Peter Jackson wanted to make with Lord of the Rings: The Neverending Movie. This is the one that finally wonScorsese a Directing Oscar, crazy because it's also a very accessible, action-heavy piece, two things Oscar doesn't often seem to care for.

The characters are uniformly well played. Leonardo DiCaprio is a young cop whose largely criminal family makes him a perfect candidate to go undercover in one of Boston's criminal organizations. Matt Damon is another MSP officer with a long-term relationship with those self-same criminals, in particular Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson,) a heavy player in the slimier parts of the Boston Metro area. Vera Farmiga is a police psychologist who's part of DiCaprio's cover and part of Damon's life. The rest of the cast is uniformly terrific, and includes Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Corrigan (Professor Professorson!)

So yeah, like a lot of Scorsese movies, it's a bunch of macho white guys swearing at each other and holding each other at gunpoint. Unlike any other Scorsese movie, there's not one but two Wahlbergs. There's more of them than I thought...

Also like a fair few Scorsese pictures, the soundtrack is pretty awesome (Tarantino is nearly as good at needle drops.) For my money, the Dropkick Murphys will forever be associated with this movie - but probably better this movie than most of their fans. And there's a cover of "Comfortably Numb" I'm not sure I'd ever heard before, but that I like quite a bit.

It's not as nuanced as some movies (and occasionally it hits you in the face with a brick full of symbolism. The last shot, particularly, comes to mind.) It's not a deep meditation on the nature of humanity, but it does offer a nasty glance at a world that doesn't quite exist, full of people you don't quite want to be around. It's a fast-paced flick, made by highly skilled professionals. It's a lot like classic John Woo flicks like "The Killer."

Also, The Departed absolutely earns its R rating. Language (of the "dirty" variety,) violence (strong, if sporadic,) sex (honestly, not a lot, but there's pretty much one female character and no openly gay characters,) and drug use (and cigarettes, which is apparently an issue these days.) Probably not one to watch with the kids, but definitely one to watch if you like cops and robbers. The Departed is almost five years old now, which is kind of crazy. Really seems like just a few months ago that I watched it (twice) in theaters.

(Postscript: the phrase "heinous fuckery," a particular favorite of mine, was coined by writer Christopher Moore. Not the one I'm friends with. Moore post coming, now I think of it.)

(Post-postscript: next movie review will be one most folks didn't see. This one's a desert island DVD - Los Tres Entierros de Melquiades Estrada. If I have time this afternoon, I'll watch it again, and post a review later. Not sure I'll have time, though.)