A film that only gets better with each viewing

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2020)

"The Departed" is an American 2.5-hour live action movie and one of the biggest hits from the unique career of director Martin Scorsese, also because it won (him) Best Director and Best Picture at the Oscars. This film is from 2006, so almost 15 years old now and another Oscar that it won was for Best Screenplay and that one went to William Monahan, although the original is of course a Korean movie from a few years earlier or actually several Korean movies as this one here is just an adaptation, but the kind where most people would say it is superior to the original or where most people do not even know there is an original. Anyway, the only Oscar it did not win from its nominations was for Best Supporting Actor, but that was no surprise at all because Wahlberg being nominated over Nicholson (and DiCaprio) surely came as a bit of a surprise, even if he was nominated for a Golden Globe too. I mean I don't mind Marky Mark, but he definitely was not the best supporting player from the bunch here. I guess he surely profited a lot from the fact that he was basically the only bigger character who survived the movie in the end. He may have lost his job, but he did not lose his life and actually the last scene is just really memorable when he shows up at the central character's home and kills him because otherwise the bad guy would have gotten away with it. So he makes somewhat sure we get a happy ending if you can say so. Speaking of lead actors, I am also not sure if you can really call DiCaprio's turn a supporting performance like the SAG Awards did (unlike the Globes and BAFTAs), but maybe it was this category confusion that cost him the Oscar nomination eventually. He would have deserved it, more than for "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood". In my opinion, he may not have been a lead as big as Damon, but surely a lead nonetheless. Also it really surprises me that Damon received no awards recognition whatsoever from the big awards bodies. He would have deserved it as well. But yeah, Scorsese-DiCaprio is just something that has worked so well for so long, so no surprise this is maybe what is more on people's minds. And of course, Di Caprio and Marty deserved all the accolades they got for this film.
Now at its core, there are sub-plots that includes other genres (like romance), but at the very center this film is nothing but a crime drama / crime thriller. We follow two men who are in disguise. Damon's character is loyal to a local crime lord, but still has a successful career with the police force. DiCaprio's character struggles with his family background when trying to become a police officer, so he goes undercover to help bring justice to said crime lord. The result is a constant back and forth in terms of loyalty, life-threatening situations and graphic violence. But it works really well. Nothing feels for the sake of it and especially in the last half hour the film gains incredible steam. Of course this also has a lot to do with the marvellous cast. I already mentioned many names of actors you find in here and there are several others like Vera Farmiga and Martin Sheen for example. Also the rather young Anthony Anderson is one many will recognize thanks to his recent success and I personally was happy as always to see J. C. McKenzie in here, even if it was just one scene, because I love him on Dark Angel my favorite television show and he seems to work with Scorsese a lot. Anyway, speaking of Sheen, when his character dies, things get really steamy and everything escalates quickly. There are so many minor references that are really smart like the little letter with the background information about the criminals and how DiCaprio's character realizes towards the end that it is Damon's character he had been chasing that night. Or also the pregnancy reference: I still think it was not Damon's character's child, but yeah we will never find out. Still it's interesting how Farmiga makes on one occasion early on a statement about Damon's character's abilities in bed that also made me think so, but who knows. Another thing I liked about the film was the music. Not just the soundtrack, but there are also some really good songs used in here, one by The Rolling Stones, one by Pink Floyd and one by Badfinger. Also the music we hear at the very end when we see the rat at the window was the perfect way to close the film. Speaking of rats, this film is packed with references that are of course meant in a way where both sides are trying to figure out who is the one they can't trust in their team. I will not get into detail about all the rat references as you will recognize these yourself when you see them, so let me just say that my favorite is when we have Jack Nicholson giving us a face expression of a rat when he impersonates this animal. That was so funny.
Nicholson in general did great and even if apparently he is retired now in his 80s I am truly happy he left us so many awesome films like this one here. I mean it's not a perfect movie and not even his approach and character works all the time like with the scene when he randomly starts singing a song that did nothing for me, but apart from that he still gave a really memorable supporting turn here and I believe he would have deserved the Oscar nomination. Not sure about the win, but the nomination definitely. Oh well, it's alright. Not being nominated does not make his portrayal any worse. Also around the age of 70, he still could be extremely scary like that scene when he violently takes care of DiCaprio's character's injured hand was pretty tough to watch. And on another occasion we see him say something pretty sadistic when he just killed two people and later on we see how he leaves a room where he just took care really violently of an enemy it seems. By the way, speaking of Nicholson's character, it came to my mind during this movie immediately how Di Caprio played a character in Gangs of New York that was sucking up to his arch enemy and (even without personal revenge motivation) this is also true for this film. I mean acting next to Day-Lewis and Nicholson back then, not too shabby. Okay let me think what else can I say about this movie. Oh yeah Alec Baldwin is also in it and he survives the film too, but his character is not that major and I am not a big fan of him (anymore) either. Still he was somewhat fun in his scenes when he got physical towards a colleague who screwed up and also during his final scene with Wahlberg. It kinda felt to me that they just used some of the really exaggerated rage the actor keeps displaying in real life for his character here. And the ending wow I already mentioned it and that sure came unexpected to see Wahlberg's character like that and what Damon's character says exactly knowing he's done. Then again, a lot in this film came unexpected, also the way DiCaprio's character is killed from one second to the next and how Damon's character is really such a gifted schemer to put everything in place for him to look good and get out of this gigantic mess unharmed. He kills another undercover guy, he kills his mentor even (even if he hesitates). And the good thing is, maybe the best thing about the entire film, how well everything works and how realistic it feels nonetheless, even if it is unexpected. A prime example of awesome screenplay penning. I am glad it won many Oscars, but this one in particular. I would not say it is my favorite film from 2006, but certainly one of the best I have seen from that year and like I said in the title of my review: Even if you know all that is happening because you have seen this film already 2 or 3 or even 4 times, it is still worth seeing once more because it is that good that you maybe always discover something new and never get bored. These 150 minutes flew by so quickly. I could easily write another three paragraphs about this film if my memory was completely fresh and I watched it two hours ago and not two days, but I'll leave it at that. There is only one thing anyway that is crucial for you when reading this review and that is that I think you totally need to watch this film because it is absolutely sublime. Unless you haven't already, or well watch it once more then. Big thumbs-up.