Just saw "The Departed"- Page 4

[boxers7]

Posted: 2/24/07 at 11:26pm

Plot twists does not a Best Picture make.

For me, I cared about the characters in LMS and Babel. I just didn't care about the people in The Departed. It was a good movie with an exciting plot.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:40pm

(Confession: I have not read the whole thread.)

I agree spider. Furthermore, Scorsese should LOSE the Oscar for that last shot of the rat running across the balcony ledge!

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:41pm

There is nothing wrong with that last shot. It was kinda bitterly funny.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:06pm

(Confession: I have now read the thread ... well, most of it anyway ...)

I think the last shot was heavy-handed. Bitterly funny? Perhaps. Completely out of place? Absolutely. The drawing of the rats in the midst of the film is one thing; a rat running across a balcony ledge with the elusive golden dome in the background to end it puts no faith in your audience or your own filmmaking that the film's message was understood. I thought it was a very poor and unneccesary choice.

I am another who thinks that singling out Marky Mark was an odd choice; what made his performance better, stronger or greater than anyone else's? Matt Damon stood out for me, primarily for his charming scenes with the female therapist. They had a lovely chemistry. I thought Jack was Jack. Someone made comment here about Nicholson imitating his own acting (or something like that) ... excellent point.

lildogs, I did not think Matt Damon's character was gay; I thought his impotency could be attributed to his moral wrangling about the mess in which he found himself.

Finally (for now), I think it is difficult to compare films against each other, unless two people make different films using the same script or story. I do think, however, that films can be judged by their own craft and how well they succeed in reaching the goals they achieved or that the audience has set for the film. For example, "The Departed" is a good film, but, for me, it does not break any new ground in the genre (one for which, admittedly, I do not care), something that, based on the praise, I expected it to do, nor was the acting so outstanding as to elevate it beyond its beginnings. "The Queen," on the other hand, sets out to explore the possible inner life and conflict of one person to gain a new understanding of a situation. The script is solid; the acting exquisite; the direction delicate and carefully rendered. Though they are vastly different films, I think "The Queen" is a better film than "The Departed."

(Flame away.)

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:13pm

I don't think the last shot was in any way trying to make sure people got the "message."

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:49pm

StickToPriest.... i agree

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:10pm

I agree about Mark Wahlberg, I'm still puzzled about his Oscar nod. and Matt Damon's snub (though after the fact he didn't even get a nod for Mr.Ripley, I'm not sure the Academy even knows his name anymore). I agree that Jack Nicholson was just being Jack Nicholson, I think he could've played this role in his sleep with his hands tied up.
I'm still baffled that people don't consider this film (and Scorsese) sexist. The only female character is simply used as a subconscious power play between Damon and DiCaprio, she has no actual voice in the movie, and when she gets the chance to actually make a difference (the envelope DiCaprio gives her and the disk she listens to) she just leaves crying and it's up to the real man (i.e. Wahlberg) to save the day. *Eye roll*
I certainly hope this film doesn't win tonight though it probably will.
I watched The Queen on DVD recently and while I used to think it was just a TV movie with great performances, I'm becoming more convinced that as a film it's the strongest nominee.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 7:20pm

Just finished watching this. I'm in the group who wonders how it's Best Picture material. Well, actually, I thought it was a solid and reasonably satisfying movie, but definitely not Martin's best and not the best of the year. (I would choose "Letters From Iwo Jima" far above any of the other nominees.) And I'm still puzzled as to why Marky Mark has a nomination and Matt Damon doesn't. I'm baffled.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 5:19pm

God, I loved this film.

I think only INLAND EMPIRE topped it last year.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 5:29pm

Out of the nominees, I wanted Babel to win. But The Departed was excellent, as well.

[lildogs]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 5:32pm

I thought the last shot was funny--I think people also need to keep in mind it's Marty's Warner Bros./Curtiz film--just like Far From Heaven was Haynes' Sirk picture.

And DBillyP--Damon's impotence was only one of the examples I found of Damon's latent homosexuality--which is also a theme in other classic noir films like DOUBLE INDEMNITY, TOUCH OF EVIL and THE MALTESE FALCON--the gayness I mean, not the impotence.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 8:06pm

As for the last shot of THE DEPARTED, I thought it was gratuitous and offensive, one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in a major movie. How stupid does Scorsese think I am?

To be fair, this isn't the first time Scorsese has laid on the message with a shovel. There's the final monologue in GOODFELLAS and the big scene in CAPE FEAR where Nick Nolte ever-so-symbolically washes some blood off his hands. Get it boys and girls? But the last shot of the rat in THE DEPARTED really hit bold new lows of obviousness.

I didn't really give a damn which of the nominated films won Best Picture. At least Scorsese's long-deferred win didn't come at the expense of anybody else, the way these payback Oscars tend to do.

Of course, this is the same Academy that gave awards to such disparate pieces of cinematic tripe as CRASH, AMERICAN BEAUTY, CHICAGO, and A BEAUTIFUL MIND, to say nothing of DANCES WITH WOLVES. I just can't take them seriously any more.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 4/28/07 at 10:07pm

The best picture of the year. Without a doubt.

Followed closely by:

THE QUEEN

then

DREAMGIRLS

then

BABEL

then

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:11am

bump.