Less than the sum of its parts

Rating: 5/10 (9 October 2006)

How can a remake of a great film by a great director with a good cast end up being less than the sum of its parts? We can blame it on the writer, William Monahan, who adapted it from the film Infernal Affairs. In Monahan's hands, he managed to rip out the heart of the original film leaving only the superficial cops and robbers story. Monahan turned a psychological thriller about the difficult choices complex characters face into a standard "I-am-undercover-and-I'll- do-anything-to-cover-my-butt" cop movie. Not that the superficial cops and robbers story is bad, it just isn't enough of a reason to remake a movie.
If you have not seen Infernal Affairs, see it. Then go back and see this movie again. Then tell me that they really needed Mark Wahlberg's character and the Hollywood ending.