Watch the original (Infernal Affairs) instead
Written: Mar 21 '07 (Updated Mar 21 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: it's a re-make of a great movie and the plot actually survived
Cons: nothing else did
The Bottom Line: Whoever's responsible for The Departed ripped out the heart and soul of the original screenplay and over-stuffed it with the worst excesses of Hollywood. Watch the original instead.
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| jc_hall's Full Review: The Departed |
The plot of the original movie, Infernal Affairs, has been transplanted whole-sale into the re-make, The Departed, where a young man (Andy Lau Tak Wah/Matt Damon) is groomed by a gangster (Eric Tsang/Jack Nicholson) to become a policeman/state trooper in order to assume the role of the gangster’s mole. At the same time, a young officer (Tony Leung Chiu Wai/Leonardo di Caprio) goes undercover, infiltrating the gangster’s ranks and becoming a mole for the police force. The two gradually learn of each other’s existence and each tries desperately to be the first to identify and root out the other.
Meanwhile, their lives unravel, as the bad guy pretending to be a good guy (Lau/Damon) starts to realize how much he stands to lose, while the good guy pretending to be a bad guy (Leung/di Caprio) grows ever more conflicted as his situation becomes more and more untenable. Even though his very life is at stake, his handlers refuse to release him from his task. He fears for his life while desperately clutching at his sense of identity, both literally as well as metaphorically. The bad mole’s not doing so well either, with his gangster father-figure putting pressure on him when all he can think of is all that he stands to lose if the good mole unearths him first.
The original movie, Infernal Affairs, is replete with themes, some overt, others subtle. For a cops-and-gangsters movie, the themes of good vs evil, of loyalty and betrayal, of reaping what you sow, of how, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword, are perhaps inevitable. However, Infernal Affairs is less a cops-and-gangsters movie than a psychological thriller, a character study of people who live on the edge, specifically those who, having sold their souls either willingly or inadvertently, must then confront the consequences. More than anything else, Infernal Affairs deals with the theme of identity, of self, of who we fundamentally are vs who we appear to be on the surface. That, together with a perfect execution—brilliant directing, immaculate acting, superb pacing—is what made the original movie so compelling.
In the re-make, The Departed, the tag line reads: Cops or Criminals. When you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference? Hmm…are we to infer that the theme of The Departed is that morality has no relevance when one is living life on the edge? It’s an interesting concept, but not one that was explored to any depth. Loyalty and betrayal were touched upon, but less so than in the original. Be that as it may, allow me to point out some things that worked and those that didn’t in The Departed.
Matt Damon was predictably and well cast as Sullivan, the fresh-faced, clean-cut, young Irishman whom gangster Jack Nicholson/Costello groomed from when he was a scrubbed-faced choirboy to become a state trooper/informant from within the police force. Damon seems destined to play the creepy guy who looks oh-so-fine but isn’t—it’s a role he does well and, indeed, is in danger of being typecast. Leonardo di Caprio was a less predictable choice for the character of Costigan, the newly-minted officer who straddles both sides of the tracks. Di Caprio may have beefed up and got all grizzled for the part, and he certainly does the vulnerability well, but if I were Costello or any of his henchmen, I would have smelled a rat every time Costigan got within hailing distance. He’s too nervy to convince anyone, let alone hardened criminals, that he’s a gangster-in-the-making.
I actually like the back-story that’s given to Costigan. A child of parents from different sides of the tracks, he comes with emotional baggage the size of a filing cabinet. The scene where he’s reduced to almost-boiling-over rage and frustration by the pair of detectives who would end up as his handlers is intense. Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg do a good cop-bad cop routine that has to be seen to be believed, though I found Wahlberg’s character way over the top. On the topic of inflated acting, there’s Nicholson doing his usual smug bastard number, with his mad Jack routine rearing its inevitable head, a routine that’s getting more tired by the movie. Channeling Lear, was he? Or is it just easier and more entertaining (for himself) to do his mad Jack routine for every darn character in every darn movie he’s been in since he became a household name?
A re-make should be able to stand on its own and still reflect positively back on the original. Moving it back in time and transporting it to a different culture is all well and good; adopting the plot more or less wholesale is a given; however, ripping out its heart and soul is not to be recommended. But then, we’re talking Hollywood, after all. Perhaps it’s to be expected. Still, it’s a shame.
For the record, the original Infernal Affairs is a Hong Kong-made movie (in 3 parts, the second of which is the prequel and the third is the sequel) and has won 23 awards. The plot of The Departed is lifted from Infernal Affairs, with nary a credit given, I should add, and Ellen Degeneres, host of the 79th Academy Awards, really should have got her facts straight—the original screenplay hails from the pens of Hong Kong screenwriters (Siu Fai Mak and Felix Chong) and not from some nameless Japanese auteur.
The title of Infernal Affairs is a pun on Internal Affairs and the inferno that awaits evil-doers, as alluded to within Buddhist Scriptures. I would be grateful if someone could inform me if the title of The Departed is meant to convey anything at all, for I must have missed it amidst all the profanity.
Sad but true, whoever did the re-make took out all the subtlety, pacing and tension as well as the absolutely top-notch acting of the original and rammed it full of violence, inflated acting, a score that’s heavy-handed at times (yes, we get it that they’re Irish, are those bagpipes really necessary?), and the most expletive-riddled dialogue I have ever had the misfortune to listen to. One can only infer that Scorcese was rewarded for an undeserving movie because he had been passed over for more deserving ones before. We’re talking the Academy Awards after all. Logic has never applied.
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
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Epinions.com ID:
jc_hall
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Member: JC Hall
Location: Toronto, Canada
Reviews written: 199
Trusted by: 54 members
About Me:
Going back to Vancouver for Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!!
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