Not that good

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2007)

Well I'm a fan of Scorsese but I just didn't think this was all that great.
It was long, had a lot of well-known actors, had a lot of profanity and some short scenes of violence...but it just didn't rise to all the hype. This film just didn't have the depth that other films had. I never really felt involved in this film; unlike other Scorsese films like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, or Casino. Even Gangs of New York drew you in more than The Departed. Perhaps it's because this is a remake or maybe Scorsese has just lost his touch, who knows.
The problem I had with the plot is that for 2 hours, there's a quasi-cat and mouse game between the police and Nicholson's organization. Both have moles and both are trying to find them. Then of course there's the other plot line of the police actually trying to bring down the mob boss. Then suddenly, there's a random shootout at the dockyard where all of Nicholson's goons are killed including Nicholson by his own spy within the police because Nicholson was an FBI informant? The final 15 minutes or so are just too much...everyone dies. While surprising, once you think about it, this was really a dumb move...you end up wondering why you just watched the movie. Consider the exact opposite and you'll understand why...everyone lives and nothing changes, kind of dumb when you think about it.
Another point was the abandoned romance sub-plot. In reality, you could have left that whole part out and it would not have affected the film one bit. And why would this woman who just moved in with Mark Wahlberg decide to cheat on him with Leo Decaprio? It was like they were going to make that an important part of the plot but it ended up being nothing.
As for the actors. I think at this point in his career, Jack Nicholson cannot be any other character except for the deranged socio-path with sarcastic lines. Comedy, drama, you name it, he's the same guy. Mark Walhberg did an okay job but it seemed like they wanted to establish that he was the stereotypical tough-talking Boston cop really quickly. He was overdone in my opinion. Leonardo Decaprio has already played this role...Gangs of New York. Matt Damon was decent. The rest were okay.
I think had Scorsese worked with the plot some, casted some lesser known actors like he used to do and gone more in-depth on the characters, it would have been better. In my opinion, if this movie had been made by anyone else, it would not have even been nominated for an Oscar.
I've tried to watch it again, thinking maybe I would like it better...by the time Matt Damon joins the special unit, I was done...I popped it out and watched re-runs.