You don't smoke do you, right? What, are you one of those fitness freaks? Go fuck yourself.
Lots of great movies coming out this month and next, so check out my previous post. As for now...
Movie Review: The Departed
I will be completely honest: I am a wimp. Seriously, for years I have been unable to bring myself to watch some truly spectacular, classic films because I have trouble having my eyes stay on screen when somebody gets bloodied. Well, over the past year or so I have come a long way, slowly coming to terms with this affliction and dealing with it by force-feeding myself various films which have progressively been moving me up notches on the proverbial ladder of violence.
Needless to say, I have not seen many Scorsese flicks (only The Aviator and The Age of Innocence, to be exact), but I really wanted to see this one, despite knowing that it carried with it a tag of “constant brutal violence.” Good lord, have I been moving myself in the right direction, because I absolutely fell in love with everything about this film.
Let me get one thing out of the way. Scorsese can direct. I do believe that is a given. You only need to hear his name attached to a project, and it becomes synonymous with the real meaning of the word “film.” With The Departed, Scorsese returns to his roots, the mean streets, and does so with relish, unabashedly flinging blood, “fucks,” “cunts,” dildos, and bullets in all directions. The trick is to have it all make sense, to give it all a purpose, orchestrating an ensemble of means leading to the ultimate end. If Scorsese does not finally get his Best Directing Oscar for this film, then I doubt whether he ever will. But frankly, the same could have been said about The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Casino, and Goodfellas, but we’ll see.
The script is tight as hell, following Billy Costigan (Leo DiCaprio), an undercover cop in Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson)’s mob, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an up and coming cop who is under Costello’s thumb. As the plot progresses we are shown all levels of emotion, humorous to horrendous, that these two men and their compatriots must struggle through. The story builds and builds as the respective outfits find out there are rats in their midst, earning every moment of tension up until the very last frame of film. One scene in particular comes to mind where the respective rats are on either end of the phone, not knowing who is on the other side, leading to a deafening, leaden silence which lasts for multiple minutes. A scene like this could end up boring as hell, but in this case it is drenched in hate, power, and fear. Truly great filmmaking and acting.
That last bit brings me to the performances, all of which were top notch. Leonardo DiCaprio gets a lot of crap, but the man can act, and he knows how to choose his roles. Having seen him in everything from Romeo & Juliet to Titanic to Catch Me if You Can and The Aviator, he just keeps getting better and better. His struggle to regain himself and his lost identity brings to mind such memorable performances as Daniel Day-Lewis’ grand finale in The Crucible. Watching his face run the gamut of emotions his character faces, the hollowness as he digs deeper and deeper into Costello’s outfit is nothing short of powerful. He deserves, at the very least, a nomination.
Now, while Leo was the standout for me, nothing can be taken away from Matt Damon’s conflicted trooper, struggling to save his own ass while still deciding if he’s chosen the right life. Jack Nicholson is also in top form, portraying a grim visage of pure evil incarnate. Martin Sheen holds up quite well as the noble police chief, and Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin steel nearly every scene their in, adding their own brand of off-handed comic relief mixed with a great deal of poignancy.
This is not an easy watch. The Departed deals with many heavy themes such as identity, loyalty, truth, and the real nitty-gritty of right and wrong, in a very real and graphic, yet powerful way. As such, it is not for the faint of heart, though I cannot recommend enough that you do what I do. Put your typical notions of what you enjoy aside and just envelope yourself in this picture. Whether or not you end up liking it, you cannot help appreciating it.
Film Rating (limp, middlin’, erect): Erect!
Movie Review: The Departed
I will be completely honest: I am a wimp. Seriously, for years I have been unable to bring myself to watch some truly spectacular, classic films because I have trouble having my eyes stay on screen when somebody gets bloodied. Well, over the past year or so I have come a long way, slowly coming to terms with this affliction and dealing with it by force-feeding myself various films which have progressively been moving me up notches on the proverbial ladder of violence.
Needless to say, I have not seen many Scorsese flicks (only The Aviator and The Age of Innocence, to be exact), but I really wanted to see this one, despite knowing that it carried with it a tag of “constant brutal violence.” Good lord, have I been moving myself in the right direction, because I absolutely fell in love with everything about this film.
Let me get one thing out of the way. Scorsese can direct. I do believe that is a given. You only need to hear his name attached to a project, and it becomes synonymous with the real meaning of the word “film.” With The Departed, Scorsese returns to his roots, the mean streets, and does so with relish, unabashedly flinging blood, “fucks,” “cunts,” dildos, and bullets in all directions. The trick is to have it all make sense, to give it all a purpose, orchestrating an ensemble of means leading to the ultimate end. If Scorsese does not finally get his Best Directing Oscar for this film, then I doubt whether he ever will. But frankly, the same could have been said about The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Casino, and Goodfellas, but we’ll see.
The script is tight as hell, following Billy Costigan (Leo DiCaprio), an undercover cop in Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson)’s mob, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an up and coming cop who is under Costello’s thumb. As the plot progresses we are shown all levels of emotion, humorous to horrendous, that these two men and their compatriots must struggle through. The story builds and builds as the respective outfits find out there are rats in their midst, earning every moment of tension up until the very last frame of film. One scene in particular comes to mind where the respective rats are on either end of the phone, not knowing who is on the other side, leading to a deafening, leaden silence which lasts for multiple minutes. A scene like this could end up boring as hell, but in this case it is drenched in hate, power, and fear. Truly great filmmaking and acting.
That last bit brings me to the performances, all of which were top notch. Leonardo DiCaprio gets a lot of crap, but the man can act, and he knows how to choose his roles. Having seen him in everything from Romeo & Juliet to Titanic to Catch Me if You Can and The Aviator, he just keeps getting better and better. His struggle to regain himself and his lost identity brings to mind such memorable performances as Daniel Day-Lewis’ grand finale in The Crucible. Watching his face run the gamut of emotions his character faces, the hollowness as he digs deeper and deeper into Costello’s outfit is nothing short of powerful. He deserves, at the very least, a nomination.
Now, while Leo was the standout for me, nothing can be taken away from Matt Damon’s conflicted trooper, struggling to save his own ass while still deciding if he’s chosen the right life. Jack Nicholson is also in top form, portraying a grim visage of pure evil incarnate. Martin Sheen holds up quite well as the noble police chief, and Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin steel nearly every scene their in, adding their own brand of off-handed comic relief mixed with a great deal of poignancy.
This is not an easy watch. The Departed deals with many heavy themes such as identity, loyalty, truth, and the real nitty-gritty of right and wrong, in a very real and graphic, yet powerful way. As such, it is not for the faint of heart, though I cannot recommend enough that you do what I do. Put your typical notions of what you enjoy aside and just envelope yourself in this picture. Whether or not you end up liking it, you cannot help appreciating it.
Film Rating (limp, middlin’, erect): Erect!