Finally, we get to review a good Boston movie!Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" was made before the Massachusetts film tax credit came into play... which means, unfortunately, that this was mostly shot in New York. Digressions. It's a great movie about Boston. Sort of.
Yes, we know, this is not a Whitey Bulger biopic. It's based on a Hong Kong film called "Infernal Affairs", which was then adapted by local guy William Monahan. Good job, especially with everything that came out of Mark Wahlberg's mouth.
We have to get really nit-picky to find things we dislike about this movie... and they mostly involve the Madolyn subplot (and her work wardrobe!). Oh, OH, and the stupid digital rat in the last shot. Even the Ralph Wiggum knew better. "The rat symbolizes obviousness."
Meanwhile, "The Departed" zips us around the city in dark cars, blasting the Rolling Stones and introducing the Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping Up To Boston." We crank it up every time we drive over the Zakim bridge at night, or watch Papelbon dance around in his underwear. The Alec Baldwin vs. Mark Wahlberg dialogues, gun fights where everybody dies, and Jack Nicholson's general creepiness... we like this movie a lot.
Our friends on the crew reported long, perfectionist Scorsese shoots. Supposedly the night filming in Chinatown was so hot and humid that they had to pump hot steam out of tubes to create the haze. Must have smelled horrible. Add Matt Damon, running in heavy fall/winter wardrobe, and... well, that's why they pay him the big bucks.
We'd love to give this a Dignam "Whoop-de-fucking-do", but instead:
Final Score = A
No comments:
Post a Comment