Why
has Leonardo DiCaprio made three films – and counting - with Martin Scorsese?
Scorsese gets terrific performances out of actors. Watch "The Departed"
- even minor characters have presence. With a first rate script by William Monahan
(adapting Hong Kong smash thriller "Infernal Affairs" – I tried
watching it twenty times but couldn't keep tract of who was who), Scorsese delivers
exactly what you want: Highly stylized, and vicious/glamorous, characters. You
expect DiCaprio and Damon to be good, but you can't wait for Mark Wahlberg to
turn up. And Jack? Its all about him, isn't it? Scorsese, understanding that Jack
can chew the scenery and the drapes, uses him selectively. But that crazy-grinning
Jack 'does' show up. To please his mega-star, Scorsese apparently filmed a three-way
sex scene Jack wanted. Thank God it never made it into the film.
Nicholson
told Rolling Stone magazine that he convinced Scorsese to include a sex scene
featuring himself, two hot women and a sex toy in "The Departed." He
said: "I thought it would be more frightening if my character had a sexual
component . . . so I called Marty up and said, 'Look, I just thought of what would
be an interesting scene of [my character] having wild sex. And in this scene with
two girls, one of the girls is wearing a strap-on' . . . This was my idea and
improvisational, and Marty went for it."
And
now this expensive perk is part of Nicholson's at-home after-dinner entertainment.
Feared
south Boston mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) takes a liking to pre-teen Colin
Sullivan (Damon, a.la Billy Bathgate) and, teaching him The Ways of the Mob, guides
his career path by placing him inside the Massachusetts state police. Colin, very
intelligent and collegiate-appropriate, soon joins the Special Investigation Unit.
The unit is run by Captain Ellerby (Alec Baldwin) and he wants them to concentrate
all their efforts on destroying Frank Costello.
Another
arm of the Special Investigation Unit that runs undercover operations enlists
Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), whose family history is tainted with low-level criminals.
After an accusatory interrogation by Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) and his foul-mouthed
side-kick Sgt. Dignam (Wahlberg), Billy agrees to go undercover and infiltrate
Frank's gang. He is busted, dropped from the state police, and goes to prison.
Returning to the streets, his family's legacy brings him into contact with Frank's
loyal right-hand man, Mr. French (Ray Winstone). His sudden brutality is perfect
mob-molding fodder. Undergoing a nasty ritualistic initiation by Frank, he is
on the team. Billy soon makes his dead father proud.
So
here they are – Billy's on Frank's team but really working undercover and
Colin is on the Special Investigation Unit in constant communication with Frank.
But
Billy is under tremendous stress. Frank's crew kills people and Frank is a proud
homicidal maniac.
During
a highly tense transaction, both sides realize that they have a mole inside their
ranks. For Frank, it's obvious. It's got to be the new guy, right?
The
excitement never lets up and Scorsese's love of vicious criminals is mob opera.
The only weak link is police psychologist Madolyn (Vera Farmiga). The underwritten
character is not fleshed out by Farmiga, who is clearly not able to emotionally
engage us with her conflicted attraction to Men Who Kill. We should have seen
her morbid fascination with dangerous men as she becomes involved with both Colin
and Billy. You know what I mean – those female public defenders who sneak
killers out of prison, or those needy obese women who marry death row inmates.
A more experienced actress would have found a way to telegraph Madolyn's character
flaws.
This is
DiCaprio's movie. You can see that his relationship with Scorsese brings out the
best in him. As the messy killings mount around him, he starts cracking up. You
not only see it, you feel it.
Damon
has scenes that seem tailor-written for him. Everyone (except Farmiga) was terrific
– I even loved the background players. And Baldwin, whose notorious bad behavior
on sets are legends, must have behaved himself. After all, it's a Scorsese film.
It's not "The Cat In The Hat."
Once
again, praise must be given to Scorese's long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
She edited the great Scorese films "Raging Bull," Goodfellas",
"Casino", and "Cape Fear"!
By
the way Jack, we really want to hear what you know about Brad Pitt's sex life.
