I Wish All Remakes Were This Good...

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2006)

In the war between the police and the local underworld, the cops have their mole with the crooks, and the crooks their insider within the police. So far, so Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs. The Departed" broadens its focus by giving a lot of attention to the chief of police and underworld crime boss, but remains very close similarities to its model.
If you really had to remake this, you might as well throw some serious star power and skill at it, so enter director Martin Scorsese, finally winning the Oscar for one of his lesser films, but one that shows considerable confidence, ease and skill. Where this really shines though, is in the characters.
In th central roles, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio pretty much play the parts as Lau and Lueng did in the original: Damon is all confident surface with a fragile foundation, while DiCaprio is an incredibly tortured soul. DiCaprio has more to work with but Damon creeps under your skin with surprising efficiency. Martin Sheen as chief of police offers a sensitive character far removed from the usual cop drama's loud supervisor, a template relegated instead to the crazed double act of Baldwin's obnoxious fed and Wallberg's foul-mouthed cop.
For all this classy work though, the turn that what will have crowds reeling with horror and laughter will be Jack Nicholson's mob boss Frank Costello! He oozes perversion and violence and his improvisational riff on screenwriter Monahan's already repulsive character makes for the most spellbinding individual you will see on screen this year! That touch alone warrants this whole remake exercise. Credit a director who knows when to tweak things and when to get out of the way.
It's always a huge comfort to see Scorsese work his magic, even on second-hand material. Ina year where old pros have tried to reinvent themselves with varying degrees of success (such as Ridley Scott with rom-com A Good Year and Oliver Stone with the dismal World Trade Center...), Scorsese's star shines brighter than ever.
What will he do next?