The Departed

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  • #61
    Re: The Departed

    what was in the envelope Leonardo Dicaprio gave to the women towards the end of the movie when he said open this in case something happens to me? i dont remember her ever opening it.....
    One must be fearless and tenacious when pursuing their dreams. If you don't, regret will be your reward.

    The Fiction Story Room

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    • #62
      Re: The Departed

      Macguffin?
      "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
      -Maya Angelou

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      • #63
        Re: The Departed

        Originally posted by JayKid View Post
        Since when was Nicholson the protag? He was the antag... as was Damon. Dicaprio was the protag of this story and you did live in his life and were pretty close to him. You are a bit more distanced from him than Hill, but that's because Damon and even Nicholson played much larger roles, so the screen time was split. It made for a less protag-focused movie.

        However, I disagree that this was a weakness. And who would have been better than Jack? That character was a great crime boss and he did an awesome job.

        He had, in my opinion, one of the funniest lines in the entire movie:

        "She fell funny."

        Although Wahlberg overall had better stuff to say, it was just great.

        I really wanna go see this again... ! But think I'll wait for it on DVD.
        Ah, I never said Jack was the protag.
        "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
        -Maya Angelou

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        • #64
          Re: The Departed

          Originally posted by WriteByNight View Post
          Macguffin?
          thats what i was thinking. just not sure if i missed something.
          One must be fearless and tenacious when pursuing their dreams. If you don't, regret will be your reward.

          The Fiction Story Room

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          • #65
            Re: The Departed

            As I remember, it's a CD that she plays while Matt's in the shower.

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            • #66
              Re: The Departed

              Originally posted by Jake Schuster View Post
              As I remember, it's a CD that she plays while Matt's in the shower.
              There were a number of very shaky plot devices that weren't properly set up. The CD w/ Costello had recorded was one of them. Supposedly he had taped all his conversations as insurance because he was an FBI informant, but it wasn't set up so it wasn't earned, not at all, particularly the whole bit with Leo's character claiming that Costello had a bunch of these tapes and that HE was the only one Costello trusted. Please, throughout most if not all of the movie Costello is written as being very suspicious of him - very weak. Also, the second mole in the police department was totally unearned. I thought it was somewhat shaky as far as the plotting and flow of events went. Also, I thought that they needed to do a better job of "killing their babies" vis-a-vis the dialog. The dialog was FANTASTIC, but there were a bunch of lines that put scenes over the top, or carried the exchanges one or two beats too far and pushed it tonally. Ninety percent of the time, the dialog and the cast carried the movie and made it very enjoyable but, for me, it was a reminder as to what a phenomenal film Goodfellas was, and the fact that The Departed didn't measure up. Also, I wasn't happy with the editing. It was supposed to be jarring but just felt choppy or as if they ran out of choices and hit some dead ends when it came to making their transitions work.

              Also, I read a review that really lauded the female lead (Farma something or other...?), but I thought she was flat and the writing around the whole triangle thing was really underdeveloped.

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              • #67
                Re: The Departed

                Originally posted by SBScript View Post
                Also, I read a review that really lauded the female lead (Farma something or other...?), but I thought she was flat and the writing around the whole triangle thing was really underdeveloped.
                Actually, I thought she was quite good. If she was flat it was probably because of the script.

                If anything was underdeveloped it was the relationship btwn Costello and Sullivan. I guess I expected more of the surrogate father son thing that DeNiro and Liotta had in Goodfellas.

                It would have been good if Sullivan had as much screen time with Costello as Costigan did.
                Last edited by roscoegino; 10-09-2006, 02:08 PM.
                "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                - Screenwriting Friend

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                • #68
                  Re: The Departed

                  Vera Farmiga was on the cover of the NY Times Magazine a few weeks ago for a long article about screenwriting and opportunities for actresses. I thought her role was both underwritten and flatly-acted. I wasn't as impressed with her as the article had led me to think I'd be.

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                  • #69
                    Re: The Departed

                    Originally posted by WriteByNight View Post
                    Macguffin?
                    No, the microprocessors were the macguffin. The envelope wasn't pursued by anyone and didn't figure largely in anything -- it was superceded by the CD with Costello's recordings.

                    Anyone who's seen Infernal Affairs -- the comparison/differences I've heard are that the Sullivan/Costigan characters and actors were deeper, more wrenching, in the original, but the plot beats were supposed to be pretty close. Does that account for the big plot/motivation holes in the new version? Like the points SBScript raises (second cop mole, Costello trusting Costigan) and the inexplicable disappearance of Farmiga's character -- if Costigan's envelope implicated Sullivan, didn't she have a duty to go to the cops (her employers)? And why would Sullivan just let her drift off if she was carrying what he assumed was his baby, and had heard the CD so was a threat?

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                    • #70
                      Re: The Departed

                      Or did he know it was not his baby?

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                      • #71
                        Re: The Departed

                        I didn't see any indication he doubted it was his. That might explain why he let her go personally, if we intuited his paternity doubts, but not why he let her out in the world suspecting he was the mole.

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                        • #72
                          Re: The Departed

                          I'm going to see this today.

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                          • #73
                            Re: The Departed

                            i actually want to see it again.
                            One must be fearless and tenacious when pursuing their dreams. If you don't, regret will be your reward.

                            The Fiction Story Room

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: The Departed

                              Originally posted by Pull Back Reveal View Post
                              I didn't see any indication he doubted it was his. That might explain why he let her go personally, if we intuited his paternity doubts, but not why he let her out in the world suspecting he was the mole.
                              Some sort of sexual disfunction was very explicitly mentioned after their first time together, so I think a lot in the audience put two and two together re the paternity. As for him being the mole, remember that there's a protection issue regarding anything a patient says to his psychiatrist (or doctor or clergyman, etc.). She's powerless to bring it up, in a way.

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                              • #75
                                Re: The Departed

                                Originally posted by Juno Styles View Post
                                i actually want to see it again.
                                Me too!!

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