An utterly depraved production.

Rating: 2/10 (20 December 2007)

The Departed is the film which sets a benchmark for depravity in a production by a major motion picture studio in that it amounts to little more than star-studded snuff porn. It features filthy dialogue, completely implausible when spoken by disciplined law enforcement officers in an open forum. It includes murder by gunfire ad nauseam, not unlike viewing the Zapruder film of the assassination of President Kennedy a dozen times in swift succession. The script is mechanical, the plot turns are shocking but certainly not surprising. The development of the characters is poor, just the usual suspects.
On the lighter side, the demise of Det. Queenan (Martin Sheen) provides comic relief, falling to his death in the manner made famous by Wile E. Coyote in numerous animated short subjects, all that's missing is the whistling sound effect. Regrettably Queenan is not indestructible and is not resurrected in the next scene.
What remains to me the greatest shock of all is that this feature release won several awards, including Best Motion Picture of the Year! It must have indeed been a vast wasteland in Hollywood in 2006 for this can of raw sewage to be so voted. I must look in the almanac and see if Private School (For Girls) won Best Picture in 1983, as it certainly was a more deserving production.
Folks, life is short. Don't waste on hour of it on The Departed. And don't reward those who profit from it with so much as a nickle. If you feel you must view this, watch it on a friend's cable TV, as I unwittingly did.
jHh