Under-written and under-whelming

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2007)

This is one of those films out of the angst-school. Everyone runs around screaming obscenities at one another and there's lots of shooting and blood and it goes on much longer than it needs to.
There's the core of a very good story here, with the double agent, double agent scenario. There could be a good, tight exploration here with the character structure and the woman linking them. But for me, there was nothing to explain why the woman was so attracted to either man which the plot kind of hinged on. And none of the characters were particularly well defined.
The acting's okay, but Jack Nicholson can do roles like this in his sleep, it just calls for him to look charismatic and dangerous.
It reminded me of the sort of plot you see on the BBC's 'Life on Mars'. Except that would have packed it with genuine intrigue and emotion into one hour. And with class. Class is ultimately what 'The Departed' lacked. (Classy film-making, not denied, but in terms of how the characters and story was portrayed).
And if American cops really go around screaming obscenities and being so racist, sexist and homophobic all the time... well, that's not a very good advertisement for the Police Force is it?