Pales next to the Hong Kong original

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2006)

THE DEPARTED is Scorsese's eagerly anticipated remake of the smash Hong Kong thriller, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which captivated much of Asia and spawned two sequels across the Pacific. The casting of Nicholson, De Caprio et al looked promising.
While there are some entertaining moments in DEPARTED and the film is enjoyable, it falls far short of INFERNAL AFFAIRS. Ironcally, IA feels more like a Scorsese film than DEPARTED: fast-cutting, a rock soundtrack, sharp camera moves and action jacked-up to 11. DEPARTED is inconsistent. At two-and-a-half hours, it moves, slows down, rocks, stops, goes forward, pauses.
There's also a little too much posturing among all these cops and villains and not enough suspense which accelerated INFERNAL AFFAIRS like a rocket ship hurling into space. The central cat-and-mouse premise between the two moles is strangely muted in DEPARTED and that's what hurts the film the most.
Performances are fine, starting with a salty Nicholson. I love Scorsese, but his hallmarks of slick camera moves, swift editing and the perfect soundtrack don't hit the mark.
Not bad, but certainly not vintage Marty.