 
The Departed
MPAA Rating:
 for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug materialReviewed by: Joseph Martinez Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Thriller, Crime, Drama
Length:
2 hrs. 29 min.
Year of Release:
2006
USA Release:
October 6, 2006 (wide)
         Relevant Issues
What is sin?
  How does viewing violence in movies affect the family? Answer
“Cops or Criminals, when you're facing a loaded gun what’s the difference?” “The Departed” is one of the best films of the year. Martin Scorsese has redeemed himself from recent releases such as “The Aviator” and “Gangs of New York.” While those two films were “good” pictures, they were not excellent, they did not reach the bar that Scorsese had set with many of his previous pictures, most notably “Goodfellas.” “The Departed” takes place in Boston, exploring the Irish mob underworld and the Massachusetts State Police. Good guys versus bad guys with a twist, there is good and bad on both sides. Jack Nicholson plays Frank Costello, a witty, evil mobster that audiences will love to hate. Frank is the ultimate evolutionist, he embodies survival of the fittest and would sell his own mother if he could make a good a buck out of it. Matt Damon delivers one of his best performances as Colin Sullivan. Sullivan is worse than a dirty cop, he is a planted mole who is only loyal to himself. Leonardo DiCaprio deserves an Oscar® nomination for his role as Billy Costigan. While detractors may bark that he is not pushing any new ground playing an undercover cop, I would quickly point out that this is the best performance ever by an actor playing an undercover cop. DiCaprio becomes Costigan, his accent and facial expressions are gritty and real, the audience instantly understands how he feels from moment to moment. Only a Best Actor loss to Forrest Whittaker for “The Last King of Scotland” can be allowed come next March when the Academy Awards are handed out. There are many other great performances by Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and a very funny Mark Wahlberg. This film is clearly one of the best cinematic experiences audiences have had in a long time. All praise aside, looking at this film through the eyes of a believer there are lessons to be learned. While there is no nudity, there are some strong sexual scenes, plenty of violence and enough foul language to make a sailor blush. Parents should not allow children to see this film at all, and should see it before they allow their teenagers to view it. The film is a lesson in sin and its inevitable consequences. As Jesus said, “a man will reap what he sows.” The characters on the opposite side of the law are sowing death, mayhem and murder, and it catches up to them. It also caught up the good guys, and unfortunately that is the result of a sinful world. One thing that stands out is Matt Damon's performance as Colin Sullivan. As much as we may hate him and want him to be caught, we cannot also help but identify with him and hope he reforms before he gets exposed. The reason is because there is a small part of him in all of us. A bit of a dual role, where we play the good guy on the outside and struggle with the bad guy within. While our individual sinful natures have not plunged to the depth's of Sullivan’s, in the eyes of Christ, sin committed in the heart is just as offensive to a Holy God as sin committed outwardly. It is important that as believers we have the correct view of self, in light of who Jesus Christ is. The lesson from Sullivan's character, for the believer, is not to let sin entangle us to a point where we are trapped by it, but to be open and accountable to others; transparency is the best way to fight hypocrisy. Now obviously, Damon's character takes it to the extreme, but pictures of the extreme always have a way of bringing things close to home. Damon's character tries to play both sides, not the good and the bad, but for the mob and for himself, and in the end he gains nothing from it. Without giving a way too much of the story, Jesus spoke of this mindset in Luke 12:2, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” This is a great film, exploring the depravity of a world without God, a world without hope. It paints the picture of a world living by the consequences of an evolutionary mindset where everyman is out for only himself. Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Heavy  Positive
Positive - The Departed is a welcome return to form for director Martin Scorsese, the man who gave us “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas.” It is also, quite a simply, a masterpiece. Filled to the brim with great actors, one would think this film would become a mess of one trying to outdo another. This is not the case at all. It's simply great actors, all at the top of their game, bringing some serious weight to the material. Positive - This is a very well made and intense crime thriller that explores the choices we make and the consequences for making the wrong choice. This is a very moral film if you take a hard look at it, yes it does contain strong language and scenes of graphic violence but that's all part of the story, it is not exploitive of just there for shock value, but has a message behind it. What is so great about the film is that we get to know all the characters and their lives, so when they make the wrong choice it makes you cringe. This is one of the best films of the year. I highly recommend it. Positive - First of all, I am going to state that this is one of Martin Scorsese's best films. Second, I am going to give my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a fair warning: This is a Martin Scorsese gangster film. There is lots of profanity, and loads of extreme violence. This is an R-rated Martin Scorsese gangster film. It is rated R for the content mentioned earlier. Now that you know this, don't go see the film, come here, and then complain about what you've just seen. You've been warned! Positive - I thought this movie was Amazing. I've been a loyal Jack Nicholson fan for a very long time. He still has his witty humor and sarcasm in almost everything he does. The previews speak for themselves. I would definitely go and see this film again. Positive - ...Yea, it was pretty repugnant, but the story line was fascinating, and in some ways, reminiscent of “The Sting” - it had you guessing as to who the REAL good guys and REAL bad guys were. Would I recommend it? If you're easily offended, save your money. If not, then give it a chance. I agree that most of the language was unnecessary, but that's normal for this genre. You won't be disappointed, once you realize it is a gangster movie that was extremely well done. Positive - This is a fantastic film. Yes, it has more than its share of F-Bombs and violence, but the world that it is portraying does not cater to the Tim and Susie Churchmouse's of the world. The movie does what it is suppossed to do in a perfect way. It takes us, as viewers, into the world of high stress, high danger, cops and robbers. It does it in an unflinching and realistic way. Anyone that has worked around police or been involved with the criminal element (BC of course, Before Christ) will understand the reality of it. Perfect film, bottom line. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is still available on DVD if real life is too much for your church going youth, but remember Narnia doesn't exist. The world of the Departed does. Don't let a few F-Bombs make you run back into your safe hole. The real world does spread a large shadow. Don't be afraid. Positive - Hey people, especially those of you who were offended by this movie. What part of an R-rating and an 'Extremely Offensive' category from this web site do you not understand? I am a little bit tired of people of a sensitive nature, going to R-rated movies and complaining. The rating is there for a reason. Don't go to movies at all if you don't like to hear people swear. I assume most of you work in convents or are monks. If you don't want to hear or see things that are offensive, why do you go to movies at all, let alone R-rated ones. Discerning people will understand that movies like this will invariably contain graphic words and violence. They go knowing that, and therefore have no right to complain or bad mouth a movie as having offended them, once they have seen it. Stick to your Disney 'G' rated movies please. There is no need for you to be offended, and no need for the rest of us to be lectured to as if we are any less 'spiritual' than you because we aren't as sensitive. Which is worse, a swear word, or a legalistic heart? Negative
Negative - Martin Scorsese is widely regarded as perhaps Hollywood’s finest working director and certainly as the maker of the most authentic organized crime movie ever: Goodfellas. He (almost) always extracts excellent performances from the actors he directs. Such is the case form all the actors in THE DEPARTED. It is beautifully filmed and competently edited. the color is gorgeous. Jack Nicholson is in superb form, funny, and obviously having fun the whole way through. DiCaprio offers the only decent and somewhat redeeming character present. Negative - As would be expected by a Scorcese film, there is extreme violence and extreme foul language. I assume it's to show us how mean the 'mean streets' really are. Negative - This is a horrendously repulsive film from the heavy hitters of Hollywood. I stayed until the last main characters were killed—must have been only 5 minutes left—only to give an accurate review for this Web site. This film is a barrage of horror. The specific scene in the porno movie theater should have put this film into the XXX category. Every fifth word spoken was swearing of some sort. There is at least 30 murders in this film and a few are extremely graphic. I heard groans of the audience with the excessive blood and gore. This film was a hit job at Christians; and the Catholic Church in particular—but it can be expected by the director of “The Last Temptation.” What ever standards that were supposedly left in the movie making caldrons of Hollywood have been lowered—and probably into the foreseeable future. Negative - Regardless of whatever cinematic or other merit this film may have, it is not worth watching. The F-word is used so often, that itself becomes the focus to viewers who are not used to hearing it, like my wife and I. One might argue that this language is reality, but that doesn't mean it should be glorified on the screen. It is very disappointing to see such talented actors lower whatever standards they may have to this level of filth. If not for the main review above, and the talented cast, we would not have considered this film in the first place. My wife and I walked out after about 20 minutes, because we had had enough. Negative - I know that a lot of people will be giving this film rave reviews, and the truth is, the acting was amazingly good. Leo's character was especially complex as well as Jack, who really put the fear of God into me, as a viewer. But on the whole, I simply cannot give this movie a good review. It was the most horrifying movie I have ever seen. THe violence was extremely graphic and constant, causing me to close me eyes and plug my ear many times throughout the film. THe F-word was used at least once in every sentence, and sexual references were off the charts! I felt like throwing up almost the entire time. The truth is, I almost cried with relief when the film ended after almost 2-½ hours of visual assault. The world can be a very dark and cruel place, but that doesn't mean we have to expose ourselves to all of these things for the sake of entertainment. Please think long and hard before seeing this film! Negative - …It is no exaggeration to say that if the 'f' word was removed from this film, it would be a silent film. It takes no acting talent or writing skill to produce a movie of this vile nature. My wife and I walked out of this movie. She was in tears and sick to her stomach. Her comment was “We have no business being here.” And she was absolutely right!… Negative - I found this film extremely offensive. The language was filthy. The plot could have been okay, if not for the language and horrible ending. It just made you feel bad all around. Negative - …My husband and I recently saw this movie, and what a mistake. In spite of good acting and a story line that offers great suspense, this doesn't outweigh the extremely offensive language (I don't think they left any vulgar language out), gore/violence, and perverse scene. We compromised ourselves by staying through this movie after the first 5 minutes. God is so faithful to forgive when we ask. Any Christian thinking of seeing this movie needs to ask themselves, “what do I want to take Jesus through?” Negative - “The Departed” is a movie basically about rodents. Human rodents. Moles and rats. Rats and moles. Oh, and skunks... because it stinks. I am convinced that if Martin Scorsese made a film about angry earth worms the establishment would lavish Oscar after Oscar on him. Not only did I want to wash my eyes, ears, and mouth out with soap after watching this, but I also wanted to wash my brain out. I didn't realize this movie was spoken in French. Negative - I wasn't intending to not watch this entire movie because I've seen “Gangs of New York” and actually remember liking “Taxi Driver.” I wanted to see this Oscar-worthy film, but had reservations because of its rating. Scorsese is a brilliant filmmaker, but markets filth. The cussing didn't bother so much, except for the specific kind of cussing that has guys calling other guys derisive slang for male and female genitalia. I have a problem with people verbally degrading each other with what God created the sexes to be. And from the other comments prior to this one, I am so glad I walked into another part of the house and watched the rest of “The Prestige.” I did not miss anything and neither will you if you've not had the displeasure of renting it or seeing it in the theater. Negative - This film was so amateurish, I couldn't believe that Martin Scorcese would let his name be put on it after it was put in the can. The characters were all shallow and caricatures of supposed mob hit men and tough police. The acting was horrible by all the key actors: Wahlburg, de Caprio and Nicholson. I'm stunned to hear others say that this was the best film they'd ever seen (especially the kids under 18!!!) How did they get in to see this movie and what parent would ever let their kids see this rotten representation of film? If this is the best film they've ever seen, then what …have they been going to see?? The language was a joke. It's almost like they had a profanity quota to fulfill. The film took a stab at virtually every group it could. I didn't appreciate the part where de Caprio uses a picture of Jesus Christ to hit some guy over the head. Real smooth, Hollywood!! Don't bother with the film! Comments from young people
Negative - This has to be the most morally offensive film I have EVER, and I mean EVER seen in my life. It was absolutely appalling. The 'f' word was used as commonly as the word 'the'--it was ridiculous. The violence was atrocious, and all the sex scenes and sex references were disgusting because it was either shown or heard of every other line. There was also several references about the church and religion, but I never got a good impression from it. I felt as though they were either mocking it, or using it to cover up the disgustingly behavioral patterns that were occurring. There were so many unnecessary things that could've been taken out which would've made this one of the greatest movies I have ever seen, but like typical Hollywood, abysmal behavior that was shown in this movie is unfortunately common. I can deal with violence, language, and some sex profanities, but they went over the limit with this. All in all, the plot of the movie was incredible, and it truly would've been one of the greatest movies I have EVER seen, MINUS the profanities. I don't care if it is Rated-R, no movie should be shown with profanities like that. What was even more inconceivable to me is the fact that no one except for my sister and I, walked out of that movie feeling offended. Unbelievable. Neutral - My reaction to the movie was definitely mixed. As for the movie's quality, I must say that this is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, and that I enjoyed the experience immensely. On the other hand, read the rating descriptors (unfortunately, I did not, and neither did my dad.) This movie is rated R for a lot of stuff, all very well deserved. Probably the most pervasively offensive was the language, topping Scarface's f-words by more than forty, along with a lot of horrible words. As a result, I can hardly recommend this movie, but I will tell you that I enjoyed it a lot for what it was. So, inversely, I can't really discourage anyone (older than me) from seeing it. Positive - As most film critics agree, Martin Scorcese is one of the best filmmakers to have ever walked the face of the earth. I concur. His movies are dark and dreary, and often center around people who's lives are drenched in sin and crime (like “Goodfellas”). These settings of Cop vs Mafia/Mob make his movies quite enjoyable, actually, as Martin possesses a one-of-a-kind ability to portray both the good and the bad side. In his films, he eventually forces the two sides to collide, creating a powerful, compelling storyline. Positive - I loved this movie, despite the n-word being said 4 or 5 times, and jokes about and sexual jokes about Catholics. …leave the kids at home. I went to see this movie with my friend who is basically a critic on every thing. I believe Jack Nicholson is a great actor despite he plays a good psychopath. And the director certainly researched the mafia to direct this mind-blowing story. Its graphic, its offensive, and it happens to have plot twister. However, I did not like the word **** sucker being mentioned. And it was really not necessary for a scene where three of the main characters to be in in a xxx-rated theatre even though it’s the only way Leonardo DiCaprio could find out information about Matt Damon's character, making jokes about masturbation. There is one scene where Jack Nicholson has a fake penis, which shocked every one in the audience. It has very bad language, and some racism. But it’s like “The Godfather” meets “Taxi Driver.” If you love movies about organized crime, and dark humor, this is the movie for you. Positive - This movie was amazing from beginning to end. The acting was overall outstanding by every single actor on the screen. Martin Scorcese did an excellent job in the director's chair, and I do believe that this will definitely be an oscar winner. I also thought the music played a great part in it to. As soon as you hear “I'm Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys in the title sequence, you know what this film is going to be like. The plot was great too. I have not seen the original, and I know that there are debates on which one is better, but I think this was excellent. There is definitely a theme of “You reap what you sow” in this movie, and whoever said there isn't needs to grown a pair of eyes. They also threw in some bits of humor that I thought were great. (Like the whole thing about the cranberry juice in the bar.) Positive - …this was easily the best movie of 2006. Amazing character development, amazing story, amazing acting by DiCaprio and company, and the list goes on. Positive - By comparison to Martin Scorcese's other brilliant movies, this is a masterpiece. Though the story does sometimes get a little cheesey, the cinematic quality of this movie is, to put it simply, astounding. The acting could barely get better, the action could barely get anymore intense, and the cinematography could barely get anymore beautiful. I felt that how Marty shot this movie was more visually enticing than movies such as 'What Dreams May Come.' If AFI could do their top 100 movies list again this year, this film would most definately be on that list. Everything flows together perfectly in this fast-paced drama thriller. Positive - This was the best film of the year. I don't really need to talk about it, because everyone else has, but it was a phenomenal film. Better than any film in three years (although “Babel” was a close runner-up). I recommend this film to anyone over the age of 14. I watched it with my brother, and he loved it too. Ten out of ten. |
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