The Departed - very good, but don't get carried away.

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2007)

Highly entertaining as this film is, it should not be Oscar worthy. It only goes to show the relative paucity of good Hollywood films in the past year that it has managed to get five nominations.
How a loyal remake of a fanciful gangster film can be up for Best Film and Best Director is beyond me.
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and it could have carried on for another 30 minutes and still gripped me. Each actor was excellent, Wahlberg and big Jack stole the show.
But it seems to have escaped everyone's notice that the plot is comic book stuff. Goodfellas this is not. That film was entirely believable (for a start, it's a true story), and its impact was consequently much deeper. This is fantasy cops and robbers stuff, and is typical of the -sometimes excellent, sometimes dire - Hong Kong cop genre. These films are almost always forgettable, the focus on immediate gratification.
Adapting the story to a more western format took some skill, and should not be underestimated. The Bostonian flourishes and character development, particularly with Di Caprio's role, were commendable. But ultimately this is a television soap plot. It is great fun, and should not be missed. But to suggest it is Oscar worthy is too much.
Scorsese may get the sympathy vote as Best Director, but anyone suggesting this is his 'masterpiece' should take a long second look at Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy and Raging Bull, which remains one of the best Hollywood films ever made, and a true masterpiece. The fact that Scorsese failed to get Academy Awards for all of these is remarkable, but don't let it fool you. The Departed is great entertainment, and for that we should be thankful. Raging Bull is something more than just entertainment, and that is what Scorsese should be remembered for, Oscar or not.