A great story retold in twice the time

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2006)

Scoresese has made some fantastic films, but constantly struggles with telling a story in anything like 90 minutes. Alright, this is a growing trend across the pond - possibly due to pressures to satisfy an American audience which needs to be told not shown (after all the American trailer is typically the summarised plot, rather than the European teaser approach) - but quality story telling without undue length is something that strong directors (like Scoresese) ought to be pushing past the strangle hold of Hollywood producers. My own suspicion is that there's a certain amount of Lucas-syndrome amongst those who've aged with success.
The Departed features a strong cast and is well acted. Locations and set pieces do make an excellent job of transporting the original plot from Hong Kong to seedy US streets. However, the story is not Scorsese's invention, so the film really should be adding some extra value in its retelling. Sadly, this does not happen. The brilliance of the original plot remains (just), whilst all that is added is time.
Certainly not the best film of the year - although could be the best gangster flick of the year.
Worth seeing, but to truly appreciate see the original Hong Kong film instead.