This installment of French Toast Sunday’s Best Picture Series focuses on the 2006 winner, The Departed. This Martin Scorsese flick won top honors, including the director’s first, long-awaited Oscar.
The Departed follows two Boston police cadets: Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) who is chosen to become a mole in an organized crime ring and Colin Sullivan (Damon) who is a respected staff sergeant providing information to the same ring. This ring is lead by Frank Costello (Nicholson) who has become a well-known and feared figure in his community and by the Boston police. The real crux comes about when Billy and Colin are tasked to figure out the identity of the other before their own lives are endangered. A host of supporting cast members all have their stake in this dilemma and as it unfolds the tension is palpable to the last frame.
Directed by:
Martin Scorsese
Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio – William “Billy” Costigan Jr.
Matt Damon – Staff Sergeant Colin Sullivan
Jack Nicholson – Francis “Frank” Costello
Mark Wahlberg – Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam
Vera Farmiga – Dr. Madolyn Madden
Martin Sheen – Captain Oliver Charles Queenan
Alec Baldwin – Captain George Ellerby
Matt Damon – Staff Sergeant Colin Sullivan
Jack Nicholson – Francis “Frank” Costello
Mark Wahlberg – Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam
Vera Farmiga – Dr. Madolyn Madden
Martin Sheen – Captain Oliver Charles Queenan
Alec Baldwin – Captain George Ellerby
My Thoughts:
As far as Best Picture winners go, The Departed is pretty perfect. It not only has brilliant technical sophistication but a challenging story. The Academy often gets this one wrong, opting for a movie that, while displaying a mastery in filmmaking, doesn’t necessarily provoke much examination. Not to say this movie is academic–it’s insanely good fun with a smart, hilarious script. You just have to follow the, at times, tricky plot while assessing the characters with morality in varying shades of gray.
The biggest triumph is the amazing performances from every member of this large ensemble cast. You would think that with such a large cast of big personalities characters would get lost but every one successfully steals the scene with each rapid fire line exchanged. This is the sort of dynamic that you don’t have the pleasure of experiencing in most movies. In this male dominated cast, even Vera Farmiga gives a strong, memorable performance rivaling any of her fast-talking costars. Mark Whalberg’s nomination is easily well-deserved and bolstered his cred from an actor who mostly stars in mid-road films. Whether he is the best performance in the film though is questionable to me since the Academy could have filled the Best Actor categories with every guy in this movie and I wouldn’t bat an eye.
After watching this film, I immediately added it to my top 10 favorite movies in my head. It’s just filmmaking at its best: compelling cinematic art from an auteur while maintaining the enjoyable nature of a popcorn flick.
Other Academy Award nominations and wins:
Won:
Best Picture
Best Director – Martin Scorsese
Best Adapted Screenplay – William Monahan
Best Film Editing – Thelma Schoonmaker
Nominated:
Best Supporting Actor – Mark Whalberg
Fun Facts:
- The Departed manages to clock 237 f-bombs into its running time, making it the most vulgar Best Picture winner (the final body count is 22)
- It’s also the only winner that is a remake of a foreign film
- Casting changed several times before the final choices: Queenan could have been played by Robert DeNiro, Dignam by Ray Liotta or Denis Leary, Sullivan by Brad Pitt, and Ellerby by Mel Gibson — I’m happy with who ended up landing the roles
- Scorcese homages the original Scarface by including well-placed Xs in shots as a form of foreshadowing
- A sequel based on Mark Whalberg’s character has been in development since this film was released, but doesn’t seem to be happening anytime in the near future
The Other Guys:
- Babel – Four stories taking place in four cities across the world intersect in this drama – Won Best Original Score & nominated in 5 other categories
- Letters from Iwo Jima – Depicted the WWII battle in a companion film to Clint Eastwood’s other 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers – Won Best Sound Editing & nominated in 2 other categories
- The Queen – Biopic following the royal British family in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s shocking death – Won Best Actress: Helen Mirren & nominated in 4 other categories
- Little Miss Sunshine – A comedic drama about a dysfunctional family who go on a road trip for the sake of the young, innocent Olive – Won Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin & nominated in 1 other category