Well, at least it's better than Gangs of New York...

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2006)

This is by no means a terrible movie, and indeed if you haven't watched the Infernal Affairs trilogy, or just don't believe in having to do anything that resembles reading when watching a movie, then it certainly works. The best moments in The Departed pretty much coincide with the best moments in Infernal Affairs, and all in all the movie benefits greatly mostly from the ingenious concept behind the movie.
Perhaps the most damning criticism I can think of with regards to Scorcese's remake is that apart from the montage of archive footage at the very beginning of the movie (possibly an after-effect from the cut and paste job he did on No Direction Home) there was nothing else in this movie, cinematically speaking, which marked it as a Scorcese movie. To me, it felt like this movie could have been shot by any director in Hollywood. Even Scorcese's gift of "right song, right moment" seemed to be on the wane.
But special mention must go to Jack Nicholson for the most outrageous, over-the-top hamming up I have seen in the cinema for some time. Never the most restrained of actors, Nicholson clearly relishes the opportunity to play the trademark "Scorcesean Bastard", and the man chews the scenery like a dedicated gourmand. One expects a runner to be on hand to give the man indigestion tablets at the end of each scene. I found myself actually pining for the less-showy and thoroughly reliable blandness of Alec Baldwin after a few minutes of Jack. Everyone else turns in perfectly decent performances, but was surprised to find that it was Mark Wahlberg who steals the show with a memorable performance, without having to stoop to Nicholson's exaggerated theatrics.
All in all a rather disappointing effort, and certainly not the return to form that many critics seemed to be saying it is. It's certainly better than Gangs of New York, but really doesn't even compare to "The King of Comedy" let alone "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull". I would urge people willing to enjoy a genuinely original and innovative film to check out "Infernal Affairs". The mere fact that Martin Scorcese was pulled on board to direct the remake surely should tip you off that it really is something quite special.