Not as good as people say

Rating: 7/10 (16 October 2006)

I must say, I went into the cinema with high expectations (always a bad idea) and this film did not live up to them. It was ploddingly slow at times. Scorceze is one of those directors whom people loathe to criticise but I think he is also one of those directors who is beginning to believe his own hype. This movie takes time to overemphasise things which add nothing to the plot, such as the religious attachment of Matt Damon's corrupt character. Too much of the movie is reliant upon the charisma of the core actors, especially Nicholson. It almost feels lazy in it's direction.
There are some very good performances. Leonardo Di Caprio is excellent, Jack Nicholson is charismatic. Matt Damon is OK.
Other than being glaringly slow, there were not many problems with the movie. Some careful scene culling and it would probably have engaged me a lot more. Do not believe the hype nor all the "this is the best ever" comments from people here. Don't get me wrong, It is good. But it's nothing special. I prefer the Chinese original over this remake - even though I have to read the subtitles! The Departed lacks the flair of Gangs of New York, and lacks the cohesion of the original Internal Affairs.