Yes, yes, Infernal Affairs...

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2007)

Yes, it is a remake of Infernal Affairs, and yes, it is much longer and not as tense. But even with the same plot (and many of the same scenes, done very similarly), The Departed explores the thematic underpinnings of its plot more strongly. What Scorsese does here is take Infernal Affairs and play it to his strengths, which is the characters. The plot drives Infernal Affairs forward, and the characters are very well developed and their identity crises understood. The difference between Infernal Affairs and The Departed, though, is that it dwells on the characters and their relationships much more.
The movie could be cut down significantly, but Scorsese didn't make this movie to make a quick and easy remake of Infernal Affairs. Thematically, Scorsese has always made movies about men trying to find their role in their world. That theme is central in Taxi Driver, Goodfellas... Even his "No Direction Home" Bob Dylan doc. The plot of Infernal Affairs is the springboard to this theme. This is not a movie about two moles trying to outsmart each other; it is about several characters trying to come to terms with lives that are essentially lies.
Of course, the cop and the crook are rats. But the mob boss is an FBI informant, the psychiatrist/girlfriend had sex with the cop and the crook (and who knows who's the father of her baby). The focus on these other characters (and others - the subject of lying comes up a number of times in the film) makes this one different from Infernal Affairs.
The technical aspects are all excellent, as should be expected from Scorsese. The acting is great, though I can't tell if my discomfort from the Boston accents is because of the other actors being in other movies without them or because I grew up outside of Boston, around the real deal. However, again, this movie is given its own identity through the setting and the differences that Scorsese outlines compared to the movie it's based on.
Infernal Affairs is a great HK thriller, straight and to the point. It's artful and tells the story better, but The Departed wants to work on more levels, and for the most part succeeds in drawing the attention away from the plot and the two cops on onto the myriad of characters, their similarities all on the surface.