The Departed
How long has it been since I saw the movie the first time? It’s probably 7 years or something. Ever since, I have re-watched it more then a couple of times and I perhaps know every detail of the story inside-out. So it’s literally impossible for me to see this film without constantly thinking of the other.
First of all, the major improvement. It might seem like a lame plot device, but turning their respective love stories into one single woman was fairly brilliant. I liked how their relationships evolved and more than any other love story in awhile, I thought they seemed very realistic and, to some degree, very simple. They had normal-sounding mature interesting conversations and it was made very clear in what kind of way she was drawn to both of those men.
The rest, oh well. Jack Nicholson is a genius and Leonardo DiCaprio is actually great in this role, even Alec Baldwin was fairly suited for it. The only weaknesses of the film were the lady (she looks so… long!) and, unexpectedly, Matt Damon. I thought he was great as Mr. Ripley back then, and in general I have always liked him (I loved “Good Will Hunting” after all!), but in comparison to other higher caliber actors, he’s pretty weak.
Martin Scorsese is a great director, there is no doubt about that. Considering how much I love the original, I give him a lot of credit for re-interpreting a film I care about very much – and succeeding at convincing me. I found it a little silly how certain scenes in the new film were exact copies of the old one (that feels a little uncreative I suppose?), but in general, Scorsese was pretty great at giving the film the “Scorsese touch” while re-writing Sam/Costello’s character into a true Nicholson-ish devil.
The only problem I had with the film was how it totally changed the Matt Damon character. In the Chinese version, he was more real, more loving, more human in how he was doubting himself and willing to change. The whole beauty about the film stems from how this man finally put his life into his own hands and decided to become ‘one of the good ones’. This aspect has almost completely disappeared from Scorsese’s version.
I liked the film and totally thought the 2 1/2 hours passed in a minute. Perhaps next time when I re-watch Infernal Affairs (and this film totally made me want to re-watch it!), I will watch both together for comparison.