There were so many crazy characters and stories Marty could've drawn from but something obviously happened along the way.
miramax fucked with scorsese throught the entire process of shooting the film. harvy weinsten wanted oscars and he felt the academy wouldn't honor a film that featured a 'jar full of fuckin' ears on a bar.'
alot of things were scorsese's fault tho, the sportscaster during the riots, the scene of irish getting off boats and recieving rifles during which a sappy ass ballad played, not even spielberg would have done it that bad, etc.
Nicholson was a weak link in departed????? he owned that role
No doubt he did. But it's certainly wasn't a stretch for him now was it? I mean it's not like we haven't seen Jack do "crazy" or "psychotic" before. I don't know man. It just seems to me like we're only getting two Jacks nowadays... Crazy Jack and Smart-ass Jack. And quite often we're treated to a combination of the two (as in I think we got a little of the smart-ass Jack in The Departed as well). I hear he's doing a new film now for Rob Reiner where he's playing a cancer patient (hence the bald look at the Oscars last week). How much you wanna bet that he's gonna be a "smart ass" cancer patient?
Departed was weak but still was the best movie in 2006...Pretty much like The Clipse album. Leo was great technically speaking. Mark came up short and showed his weaknesses, Jack was Jack, Matt was good, but the problem is the scenario. Im not knocking down a movie based on emotions...I watch movies instead of T.V. Scripts is what "turns me on". The script was wak as hell. Not credible in many parts. Which led to put Leo in weird positions (jail time, thuggish attitude with bigger and older dudes, etc...). Jack was a bit exagerated too. His beahavior didn't match his status in the movie. But beside that, the technical aspect of the movie is enjoyable and the casting helps a lot.
Wow this is a great thread After i saw the original and found out that they were going to do a hollywood version i groaned. However i was pleasently suprised. Im not goin to go in depth about my views as everyone has pretty much covered them exept to say: This was the first role i enjoyed Leo in. I thought Jack nailed it and they did the transfer from a HK based story to the US very well.
the whole movie sucked! marky mark was one of the only good parts. I was all like, wait, the lead chick sleeps with the clean-cut cop and the bad boy!?! gee whiz! so original....zzzzzzzzz.....and wait, wait, the cop is actually crooked and its the bad boy informant that is somewhat redeemable and sympathetic?!? so original....zzzzzzzzz.....
honestly that movie was one tired trope after another. this movie did for the gangster/cop genre what "Unforgiven" did for the western: took a great cast/director, wasted them on an amalgam of all the tired cliches of the genre, and gained critical praise from a gullible public whose cinematic memory is about 1.5 yrs at this point.
I've caught this on HBO re-run a few times and even though I think all its failings are still dead-on, what I realized is how easy it is just to settle in and watch the damn thing, failings and all. Credit: Marty.
I sort of thought that the guy that dies on the couch wasn't a cop at all, and that the police put it out to the media that he was in order to to take the heat off the Leo character...?
That's how I took it, too. Seemed to make sense as a strategic move. Plus, we had no indication that the guy was a cop.
I sort of thought that the guy that dies on the couch wasn't a cop at all, and that the police put it out to the media that he was in order to to take the heat off the Leo character...?
That's how I took it, too. Seemed to make sense as a strategic move. Plus, we had no indication that the guy was a cop.
Did we watch the same film? The dying guy says to Leo's character: "ask me why I didn't say anything?" If this guy isn't another undercover, why wouldn't he rat out Leo? It seemed very clear to me that the point here was to let Leo know the real.
I watched the Departed again this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it, much more than the "original" IA. There were some really corny parts that Scorcese put in just to fuck with you... like when Matt Damon's character kills the boss Nicholson and comes back to the police station. A woman (cop or secretary) gives Damon a cup of coffee, Damon says "thanks", and the woman says, with straight face, "No, thank you."
I sort of thought that the guy that dies on the couch wasn't a cop at all, and that the police put it out to the media that he was in order to to take the heat off the Leo character...?
That's how I took it, too. Seemed to make sense as a strategic move. Plus, we had no indication that the guy was a cop.
Did we watch the same film? The dying guy says to Leo's character: "ask me why I didn't say anything?" If this guy isn't another undercover, why wouldn't he rat out Leo? It seemed very clear to me that the point here was to let Leo know the real.
Had always thought the same thing Spanky, but majority of people i have spoken to about it agree with the 1st 2 responses and said it was was definately a police cover up!! Anyway- glad someone else DOES think the same way about it....was the only thing that stuck out for me as a negative (the possible not knowing his motives...).
I stand corrected I guess - I started poking around more and people have noted that Delahunt's character in the original HK series was definitely NOT a cop. I guess he decided not to rat Leo out was out of personal affection (rather than professional loyalty).
rereading this thread, this was a fun little movie discussion. disagreements, salient arguments on all sides. I want to rewatch this now, and see if my venom still holds up (it probably will, but time wounds all heels and what not.)
KK: The movie, to me, doesn't get better with time in terms of the the shortcomings are still shortcomings. But as noted, it's just shot and edited in such a way that it's really easy to watch. I feel the same way about Soderbergh's "Oceans 11" series. I thought the first one was done nicely but the subsequent sequels were really rocky yet it becomes deceptively easy to pass an hour or so watching without realizing you're doing it.
I think it says a lot about how well Marty knows how to make a film from a technical p.o.v. but as Anthony Lane was recently criticizing: it's been a while since he's found a compelling story to match his command of form.
Comments
he owned that role
alot of things were scorsese's fault tho, the sportscaster during the riots, the scene of irish getting off boats and recieving rifles during which a sappy ass ballad played, not even spielberg would have done it that bad, etc.
No doubt he did.
But it's certainly wasn't a stretch for him now was it?
I mean it's not like we haven't seen Jack do "crazy" or "psychotic" before.
I don't know man. It just seems to me like we're only getting two Jacks nowadays...
Crazy Jack and Smart-ass Jack.
And quite often we're treated to a combination of the two (as in I think we got a little of the smart-ass Jack in The Departed as well).
I hear he's doing a new film now for Rob Reiner where he's playing a cancer patient (hence the bald look at the Oscars last week).
How much you wanna bet that he's gonna be a "smart ass" cancer patient?
Im not knocking down a movie based on emotions...I watch movies instead of T.V.
Scripts is what "turns me on". The script was wak as hell. Not credible in many parts. Which led to put Leo in weird positions (jail time, thuggish attitude with bigger and older dudes, etc...). Jack was a bit exagerated too. His beahavior didn't match his status in the movie. But beside that, the technical aspect of the movie is enjoyable and the casting helps a lot.
dude on the couch was a cop. Just means there were two undercovers in the unit.
That's how I took it, too. Seemed to make sense as a strategic move. Plus, we had no indication that the guy was a cop.
Did we watch the same film? The dying guy says to Leo's character: "ask me why I didn't say anything?" If this guy isn't another undercover, why wouldn't he rat out Leo? It seemed very clear to me that the point here was to let Leo know the real.
Had always thought the same thing Spanky, but majority of people i have spoken to about it agree with the 1st 2 responses and said it was was definately a police cover up!!
Anyway- glad someone else DOES think the same way about it....was the only thing that stuck out for me as a negative (the possible not knowing his motives...).
that was some good soulstrut, people.
I think it says a lot about how well Marty knows how to make a film from a technical p.o.v. but as Anthony Lane was recently criticizing: it's been a while since he's found a compelling story to match his command of form.