The Departed

After a great deal of waiting, I saw The Departed the other day. The first thing you notice about the movie is the names attached to it. Martin Scorsese directing (is it me or is Scorsese going through an Irish fetish with this and Gangs of New York?), Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon starring, and supporting roles being played by typically leading men like Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and Jack Nicholson. The lesser known names in the cast are also very good actors. Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Corrigan, etcetera.

The second thing you notice is the setting of the movie. Boston, Massachusetts. What's so special about Boston as it pertains to this movie? In terms of organized crime activity, Boston is unique in that Irish mobs of South Boston, Somerville, and Charlestown often fight with the Italian mobs of North Boston and Providence, RI. Furthermore, the most prominent Irish mobster in the late 20th century was leader of the Irish mob in Boston. Whitey Bulger was/is the leader of the Winter Hill gang of Southie. He was also an FBI informant, but often used the FBI as a means to further his own agenda. He was also highly connected in the power circles of Boston, most notably through his brother Billy who was a major player in the Massachusetts political scene. Billy was once President of the Massachusetts Senate, as well as President of the University of Massachusetts.

In the 1960's the Irish Mob Wars resulted in the Winter Hill gang being the primary Irish organized crime force in Boston. Nevertheless, there has always been tension between the Irish and Italian organized crime factions.

What's ironic about the Irish mob in Boston is that most cops are of Irish descent. Although the Irish mob doesn't "own" the police or the FBI, law enforcement has always found difficulties in mustering considerable energy to battle organized crime in Boston.

The Irish mob in Boston is also not nearly as powerful as crime families in cities like New York. In a way, they are working class mobsters, gritting out tough lives in grittiness as opposed to the often glamorized Italian mobs in suits and ties. This is vital for the movie.

Boston is a rare city for movies to be set in. Most movies are set in New York, or LA, or Chicago, or another major worldwide city. Off the top of my head, here are the only movies I can think of that are significantly set in Boston.

Blown Away, Mystic River, Celtic Pride, Boondock Saints, Fever Pitch, and Good Will Hunting.

That's it, and only a few of those movies can be considered to be really good. The other's kind of suck.

This movie works in Boston, though. When people think of Boston, they think of Irish people. When people think of Irish people, they think of working class hard workers, people that are tough as nails and willing to do anything to survive.

One thing I can't help but notice in Boston movies is the accents. Usually, they're fucking terrible, and way over the top. See: Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days. We don't all sound like Ted Kennedy drunk off his ass. But this move had really good accents. Of course, Wahlberg and Damon were flawless, but even DiCaprio and Baldwin did very well.

The use of terms like "down Providence" and "up Gloucester" was also very nice. Many hardcore Boston speakers skip over the preposition "to" when referring to going somewhere.

This movie alludes to several things that are relatively well-known to Bostonians, but perhaps not to outsiders. I enjoyed these allusions even though they weren't big parts of the movie. Things like robbing microchips from a tech company on 128 (128 is a road that goes around Boston and has dozens of tech companies), or robbing an armored truck at the Dedham Mall were nice little touches that, for me at least, gave the movie a good deal of authenticity.

The portrayal of the State Police was also very well done. The Massachusetts State Police is not just a group of cops with statewide jurisdiction. They're very tough to get into and don't bullshit around. Mark Wahlberg's character, as well as Martin Sheen's were very good representations of state troopers.

The MSP considers itself almost a military organization. They require accepted cadets to undergo paramilitary training. There is a joke about one trooper appearing as though he was about to invade Poland. I found this humorous because there is definitely a resemblance between MSP uniforms and uniforms of Nazi officers.

Enough Masshole pride for now. Back to The Departed.

The screenplay was based on the Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs. However, when the US version was being written, screenwriter William Monahan didn't watch the original movie, only reading the original script in order to get a purer feel for the story as opposed to the finished film.

The story is great. In order to simplify it, it is like Spy vs. Spy with Damon and DiCaprio infiltrating the State Police, and Irish mob, respectively. Eventually both sides become aware of the presence of a rat which sets up the inevitable conflict between Damon and DiCaprio with a few surprises mixed in.

This movie was exquisitely written and amazingly casted. Damon and DiCaprio as the rat pawns, Martin Sheen as the older Statie, Mark Wahlberg as his younger right hand man, Alec Baldwin as the not so far-sighted Statie, Jack Nicholson as the evil but still likeable villain, and Vera Farminga as the love interest. Each actor did a great job with their characters which is saying a lot because this is such a two-sided movie with the underground side and the police side.

Excellent fucking movie taking its place among mob movies and among Scorsese's collection of classics.

Unfortunately, most of the movie was shot in New York because Boston's film bureau is fucking retarded. They make it too expensive and complicated for movies to be shot in the city or state. Some of it was shot in Boston, but most of the street scenes were in New York.