THE DEPARTED -- an INFERior Affair

Rating: 1/10 (8 October 2006)

the original - INFERNAL AFFAIR is by no means a flawless film. By comparing to the remake it inspired, however,INFERNAL AFFAIRS seems much closer to perfection. If nothing else, I couldn't believe a Scorsese film would call for the audience to suspend their disbelief even more than what the average over-stylized & borderline-fantasy Hong Kong film would demand!!!
There are gaps that THE DEPARTED manage to patch where INFERNAL AFFAIRS had fumbled: 1) watching the news report of Nicholson's goon as an undercover cop, and Nicholson responds "the cops would want us to believe that so we stop hunting for our mole". (this is where the HK version leaves audience confused as it is never explained;
2) the shrink actually is not a mannequin that shows the intelligence of an 8 yr old where her consultation with patients resembles an office receptionist taking calls -- flawed by not only the choice of actress, but also in the original script; & 3) why would Andy Lau's girlfriend get so disillusioned just BC she hears a tapped recording of a conversation between her boyfriend and a raspy-voice man about crime -- she doesn't even know he's working on this case, so why would this little thing lead her to believe her boyfriend is an undercover-crook?
THE DEPARTED: done right:
1) as written above, Nicholson's comment on the police revealing who the snitch is helps lower unnecessary confusion that serves little purpose; 2) the psychiatrist has her own demons -- not a cyborg like Kelly Chen played it to be; 3) flashbacks to the children version of the leads were a good touch compared to INFERNAL AFFAIRS using actors in their 20's that confuses the audience BC they neither look like teenage versions of Andy Lau & Tony Leung, nor does it make sense for the difference in looks within even 10 years unless they've both had a FACE/OFF.
THE DEPARTED - INFERIOR & RIDICULOUS: 1) is the psychiatrist a nymphomaniac? if so, why not explain that earlier that she could fall in lust with someone who just yells at her non-stop? At the clichéd least, let it be an act of charity out of pity!
One "left-field" line of "so can we have a cup of coffee?" after the rapid-fire insults would turn her on? Who's the one with dementia here? Why can't she at least have one scene where a problem between her and Matt Damon surfaces, or maybe she has demons she can't control causing her to fall in lust with Leo? Were there scenes or dialog cut from what was shot because of duration control?
2) when Nicholson's goon suspects Leo to be the snitch, why doesn't he tell anyone else? In INFERNAL AFFAIRS this is justified because the goon is a good friend and aspires to be like Tony Leung. In THE DEPARTED, there is not the slightest sense of camaraderie between these two.
3) when the girlfriend listens to the CD, her motivation is fear of getting caught by Matt Damon about her affair. Knowing so little of what Matt Damon's cases, why would she be so disappointed at him? If any reaction is to come out of her, it would at best be her questioning "hey, are you taking up voice-acting? why didn't you tell me?" She wouldn't know what's going on just listening to 5 minutes of cryptic phone conversations...
4) Wahlberg, Wahlberg, WAHLBERG!!! I don't mind some of the lines given to him to make him the asshole of the year. I'll suspend my disbelief that much to accommodate his behavior. What I cannot accept is what happens after the boss' demise -- why would Nicholson and Damon suddenly feel the only remainder to their worries is Leo? When the film clearly states Wahlberg and Sheen are the only two who know the list of Undercovers, why does he suddenly leave the story as if he has no part in it? If I were the dumbest crook, Wahlberg is the first person I'd go for a shakedown to find out about the snitch. Instead, he is forgotten... and these are supposed to be the super-crooks we've been lead to believe throughout the film?
MARTY... did you direct this picture? or you left 1/2 of it to the team of interns?
I give points to the twist in the 3rd-act warehouse scene. It's a wise move to change-up so it wouldn't be completely predictable to those who've watched INFERNAL AFFAIRS.
That said, what's with the ridiculous dialog? Leo: "xxx you, xxx you, xxx you, xxx the lot of ya!" Is there some syncopation here? are you trying to add a musical touch to this scene? I won't giveaway your "surprised ending". That's better left for everyone else to judge after they see it. I for one, think it was ridiculous and could only have resulted because some Studio Exec decides "but there's no redemption! The bad guy can't go free!"
one more thing before I end this rant... it's about the scene with the Chinese gangs. Did you just grab a team of Chinese-looking men, tell them to translate on-the-spot their lines from English to what they think is Cantonese, and then just shot it right there-and-then without review? Do you realize they're speaking laughably bad pigeon Cantonese that doesn't exist -- intonation, and stresses at all the wrong places... when the gang head tells his henchman to check the bag, the audience expects him to say "You better check it good my man! or it's your ass!". What the guy says, however, can be translated into English as "now I assign you the duty (in third person form as if he's explaining about an order someone else had made), you better check IT THOROUGHLY!" Would you put the stress in "IT THOROUGHLY"?
IT BAD, MARTY, IT BAD....