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The Departed was a massive hit upon release in 2006. According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed a little over two-hundred and ninety million dollars in worldwide ticket sales against a ninety million dollar budget. Additionally, it took home numerous Academy Awards, including, and perhaps most notably, Martin Scorsese’s only Best Director nod (Monahan, William, and Martin Scorsese. “The Departed.” IMDB, October 6th, 2006).
Fittingly, one would assume it’s a pretty kickass film, right? Well, according to the YouTube content creator, Macabre Storytelling, no… it’s actually not very good. In a well-crafted video aptly titled “Why The Departed Sucks,” he thoroughly outlined the vast shortcomings of the film begging the question: Was The Departed not as good as it’s remembered to be?
What Is The Departed?
The Departed is a crime thriller directed by Martin Scorsese. It explores the criminal underworld in Boston via two primary characters. The film’s two central characters, Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon), are, at once, pitted against each other and inextricably linked from the start of the film.
Colin is a dirty cop leaking information to a local mob boss, Frank Costello (played by Jack Nicholson), and Billy is an undercover operative for the police infiltrating Costello’s crew. The two “rats,” as they are commonly called in the film, jostle to expose one another, and it’s through this conflict that the plot revolves.
What Makes The Departed Great?
There are many glowing qualities worthy of discussion with The Departed, but the keys standouts are the soundtrack, the performances, and the suspense.
1. The Soundtrack Is Superb
If your head doesn’t whip around like a ragdoll in a tornado and you don’t start to foam at the mouth like a rabid dog when “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys starts to play, you’re not making the most out of life. It’s quite literally one of the greatest hype songs ever and it gets not just one moment to shine in this film, but two, so, that’s already a step in the right direction.
Additionally, classics like “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones and “Comfortably Numb” of Pink Floyd fame (the rendition used in the film appears to be the Roger Waters & Van Morrison version) are featured in the film as well.
2. The Cast Is Phenomenal
Each actor in this film is doing brilliant work. Leonardo DiCaprio really captures how brutal and devastating undercover work is on the psyche with his portrayal as Billy Costigan Jr. Matt Damon uses his good-guy charm and demeanor against the audience to pull off a seriously conniving and deplorable turn as Colin Sullivan; the dirty cop leaking information to the big baddie of the film, Frank Costello. Jack Nicholson plays Costello, and he does an excellent job of capturing Costello’s unhinged, egotistical demeanor.
Additionally, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Vera Farmiga (in her, admittedly, limited and underdeveloped role; more on that later) all turn in really solid supporting role performances (with others worthy of mention as well, but left off to avoid practically reading off the entire IMDB cast list).
3. The Intrigue And Mystery Never Gets Old
This movie is a thriller through and through. It’s the ultimate game of cat and mouse or, maybe more accurately, hide and seek. There’s an immense amount of tension and suspense that mounts as the audience ponders who’s going to solve the mystery first; Billy or Colin? This intrigue builds and builds before culminating in an ending that is equally shocking and satisfying.
Where The Departed Falls Short
While it’d be nice to come out and say everything Macabre Storytelling pointed to as a shortcoming in the film was a sham or some irrelevant nitpick, that’d be somewhat disingenuous. There were a couple, and, in some instances, he didn’t provide proper context to scenes, and that helped him frame certain things in a negative light where otherwise he couldn’t, but he did also have a fair share of valid points.
Nitpicks & Misleading Critiques
In the video, Macabre Storytelling suggests the film’s handling of the passage of time is lackluster. One example he alludes to is a montage of Billy serving a four-month prison stint. The montage is quite short and only unfolds over four scenes (that are meant to represent the four months), but, as Billy’s experience in prison isn’t really consequential to the overall plot, it wouldn’t have made much sense to spend a significant amount of time there anyway.
So this isn’t really a fault of the film as much as it’s a trivial annoyance one can find when really looking to poke holes in the movie. Some of the other “timeline plot holes” are a little more merit-based (it’s stated at one point that Billy has served undercover for nearly a year, but the audience has only seen Billy as a member of Costello’s crew in a handful of scenes), but, ultimately, these aren’t really disruptive or distracting unless you’re viewing the film from an overtly critical lens.
In addition to some nitpicky points, in some instances, Macabre Storytelling misconstrues the happenings of the plot to make something appear worse than it is. Costello and his right-hand man Mr. French (played wonderfully by Ray Winstone), are curious of Billy as he was in Massachusetts State Trooper training prior to attempting to join the crew. Still, they eventually decide to bring him on anyway. In his video, Macabre Storytelling omits talking about the scene where Costello and Mr. French discuss reliability and whether they can trust Billy (which occurs between their suspicion and ass-kicking of Billy scene and the scene where they recruit Billy) and structures his argument. Hence, it sounds like Costello and Mr. French are curious about Billy in one scene and immediately recruiting him in the next.
Another instance of this is when Vera Farmiga’s character, Madolyn, plays the incriminating tape Billy mails to Colin. He argues that her understanding of how the discussion at hand implicates Colin doesn’t make sense when the dialogue is easily discernible as, at least mildly, illicit. In the conversation between Costello and Colin, Costello states, “If you don’t find this cheese-eating rat bastard, it won’t be me who pays for it.” Colin follows with, “Let me do what I do…it involves lying, and I’m pretty good at that,” which is enough, even assuming she knows nothing about Colin’s job, to be suspicious.
Valid Critiques
While some analysis of Macabre Storytelling’s proposed faults in the film was warranted and pointed to flawed reasoning, other critiques are undeniable. For instance, the mentioning of Billy’s final plan to arrest Colin being extremely misguided and lacking forethought; totally true and especially strange given Billy’s presented as a pretty smart guy who’s cool under pressure up to that point. That being said, the worst part of The Departed (which the video illustrates) is, by far, that Madolyn’s character is so poorly underwritten, and the love triangle between her, Colin, and Billy is so forced.
The chemistry between Billy and Madolyn (pictured above) is practically non-apparent, and (SPOILER; though not that big a deal really) the pregnancy sub-plot and suggestion of Colin’s impotence is laughable in how underdeveloped it is. The romance between Billy and Madolyn is not explored with any real depth (with Billy and Madolyn sharing no more than three or four scenes together, none of which suggesting a blooming romantic connection). It is, in the end, just an artificial means to try and build more conflict between Colin and Billy, which also isn’t that necessary as their opposing roles in the film do plenty of that as is.
Is The Departed As Good As Once Remembered?
Yes and no. The Departed remains an immensely engaging watch, but there are some chinks in its armor. It’s still a deceptive thriller with great suspense, an engaging soundtrack, and some brilliant performances, but it’s also a film with some poor character choices and one especially awful romantic subplot.
