not so great

Rating: 4/10 (10 October 2006)

The Departed is an occasionally engaging film, beautifully acted and photographed. It has powerful narrative energy as it breathlessly races the viewer through a complex plot. However, the praise for this film has been far overblown. The Departed is not as inventive as Taxi Driver and not startling and sublime like Raging Bull. In fact, Scorcese's new film is overly long and somewhat tedious. The contrived plot seems banal, and neither Di Caprio nor the bland Damon make their roles particularly interesting. Sadly, despite his technical virtuosity, it becomes apparent here that Scorcese has little more to say about his themes of urban alienation and the brutality of modern life. The film is grotesquely violent at times, and the viewer begins to wonder as yet another bloody shooting "goes down." Unfortunately, the shallowness of this film and its predictable brain-spraying violence disappoint the Scorcese fan.