Without Nicholson, Departed Would Have Been Better

Rating: 6/10 (9 October 2006)

The Departed is pretty good, but not because its large cast is good or because of Martin Scorcese's direction.
Its good because the original Chinese film its copied from, Infernal Affairs (2004) was probably a superior script. I'm rushing to get a copy from Netflix as we speak.
The story is about two impersonators who have infiltrated the Boston Police Department. One is employed by the Police Department to find any moles who might have penetrated the force. The other works for Boston Mobster Frank Costello, not related at all to the Mafioso who rapped his knuckles on a congressional desk in the fifties during a televised hearing about organized crime.
Jack Nicholson plays Costello and wrecks the movie pretty much. In interviews this weekend, Nicholson said he wasn't inclined to be in the film because the Costello role was little more than a cameo. But Scorcese had the part built up for Nicholson, hurting the film in the process.
The film is a tightly wound tale of intrigue about moles inside the Boston department. Leo De Caprio and Matt Damon play the spies. De Caprio is better than Damon but not by much. De Caprio knots up his forehead too often in order to be taken seriously as a slightly troubled cop.
There's a certain amount of advanced technology to sleuth the mystery the audience already knows the answer to. But this is a great script.
Jack Nicholson's Costello is over the top, damaging a pretty good film substantially. De Caprio is off his mark too.
But this is the best Scorcese film in years, better than Gangs of New York or the Aviator, both of which were directed by Scorcese and both of which featured Leonardo De Caprio.
Nicholson is so awful and such a gargoyle, he reminds me of Burl Ives, who was terrible as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958. Nicholson is almost always miscast and overacting these days. I think the last decent film he did was the Postman Always Rings Twice in roughly 1980. He hasn't been good in anything since, but they keep paying him as if he's a bankable star.
Other actors in what is supposed to be an ensemble film include Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alex Baldwin, Vera Farmiga and Krista Dalton. Dalton is a newcomer and is quite good. But Baldwin, Farmiga and Wahlberg don't get enough time to act with Nicholson chewing scenery all the time.
The film, due to its extraordinary plot and a series of film surprises, is quite good, despite everything.