Siffblog: Wagon Jumping (with enthusiasum)

October 10, 2006

Wagon Jumping (with enthusiasum)

David Jeffers

The Departed

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I’m the guy who does his job. Who are you?"

How often have moviegoers observed that "So-and-so hasn’t made a decent film in years …" How often has that observation been true? Given this consideration, Martin Scorsese’s latest film The Departed is an astonishing surprise. It is every bit the equal of his greatest triumphs. His portrait of Boston’s Irish Mob, with its mix of loyalty, deception and underlying legacy, is told with a breathtaking visual narrative of explosive violence and its consequences, in the compelling style Scorsese is famous for. At its heart, The Departed is Jack Nicholson’s film. He dominates the screen as the personification of willful menace and pure evil. The remaining cast rivals any Scorsese ensemble, with career defining performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Ray Winstone. With an unforgettable screenplay and a well-balanced score featuring everything from The Rolling Stones, to Patsy Cline and La Traviata, The Departed fulfills the promise seen in Scorsese’s earliest work.

Posted by David Jeffers at October 10, 2006 8:53 PM

Comments

Wow! You have persuaded me to take the plunge and try another Scorcese gangster film. I was hesitant to see it before I read this review.

Posted by: Anne Hockens at October 11, 2006 8:10 AM

If you’re not a Scorsese fan from way back, I doubt this picture will magically convert you. My POV is telling. Scorsese produced a handful of films, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and of course Raging Bull, that gave an entire generation a significant share of its cultural identity. Along with a few peripheral films like Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and After Hours, Scorsese’s catalogue represents one of the most significant contributions to American Cinema of the last half-century. Bringing Out the Dead was a curiosity I enjoyed, it seems far more than most, but the last film I thoroughly embraced was Casino, and that was eleven years ago! In one of our many discussions, Bill had me convinced Scorsese was better suited to teaching (he has produced two wonderful documentaries on film history). The realization of this new film is all the more wonderful as it turns my demoralized resignation on its ear and restores my faith in someone I’d written off. In his PI review last Friday, Bill Arnold actually referred to Jack Nicholson as a colossus! …and the old gang from the drive-in is giddy. "Do I amuse you?"

Posted by: David Jeffers at October 11, 2006 10:36 PM