Take Two: Joint Movie Reviews by Tim and Corey
Tim and I began reviewing movies in our high school newspaper The Raider Generation around the same time, but our reviews were usually separate and we rarely addressed the same releases.
With the release of "The Departed" in 2006, that all changed. For a film that we both loved, we knew that there were enough things to say that we could each address different parts of the masterful film. In the end, we molded our two opinions together to create a joint review we were both satisfied with.
Since then, we have written reviews on some of the same films. While we have never written one complete article since reviewing "The Departed," each of our reviews for a given film have provided varying degrees of criticism, but as you will soon see we tend to agree on most releases.
Below is the original review for "The Departed" as it appeared in a 2007 issue of The Raider Generation. The other reviews that appear in this section contain two reviews for each film: one that Tim has written and the other which I have written.
With the release of "The Departed" in 2006, that all changed. For a film that we both loved, we knew that there were enough things to say that we could each address different parts of the masterful film. In the end, we molded our two opinions together to create a joint review we were both satisfied with.
Since then, we have written reviews on some of the same films. While we have never written one complete article since reviewing "The Departed," each of our reviews for a given film have provided varying degrees of criticism, but as you will soon see we tend to agree on most releases.
Below is the original review for "The Departed" as it appeared in a 2007 issue of The Raider Generation. The other reviews that appear in this section contain two reviews for each film: one that Tim has written and the other which I have written.
"The Departed" a modern classic, masterpiece
Written by: Tim Luisi and Corey Wackel
I smell a rat; several rats to be precise and all of them are thick in the plot of the most thrilling, heartbreaking, and hilarious movie to come to the big screen this year. That movie is "The Departed." It is a story that will have you in tears or laughter and just as quickly in a state of shock.
'The Departed" is the gripping tale of two men who have lives going in the complete opposite directions. One, Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), is a man that come from the gangster sides of the street and because of his family's life he is unable to become what he wants to most: a cop. What he becomes instead is not just a cop, but a mole for the police in the Irish mafia under the intense leadership of Frank Costello.
Costello (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson) is many things: a gangster, a playboy, a man of power, a father figure to many, but most importantly a monster. Whether it is his casual nature while he flippantly plays with a dead man's hand of his terrifying presence when he first interrogates Costigan, it is obvious that he is a man capable of anything, and the chilling part of that is this: he has the power and the ability to do just that. He murders and sells drugs because to him these things are just a game; these things are just as ordinary to him as watching a movie would be to us. He does it for the money as well, but even when he doesn't need to, he still goes on the runs and plays his games.
Directed by master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" is a flat out masterpiece. While it is a departure from Scorsese's more recent efforts, ("Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator") the film rightfully returns a master to his domain. Scorsese is, without a doubt, the master of the gangster/crime film genre, much like Alfred Hitchcock is considered the master of the suspense genre. Scorsese's mastery of his genre has never been more evident than it is in "The Departed." Running in the vein of such Scorsese classics as "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas," "The Departed" is a great return to form for a brilliant filmmaker.
The case assembled is one of the best ensembles Scorsese has ever presented. The film marks the first time that screen legends Nicholson and Scorsese have paired up, resulting in one of the greatest Nicholson performances within the last decade. Nicholson plays a bad guy, and because he has played the part of a villain many times in different movies ("Batman," "A Few Good Men," and "The Shining") this was a role that he could have easily performed without much effort. To his credit, what made him stand out here was his personal involvement in the film. He improvised much of the lines and actions of his character in the movie, adding a much needed element that wasn't initially located in the script. Rumors swirled on set that Nicholson required Scorsese to shoot each scene at least twice; one as indicated by the script and another the way Nicholson wanted to do it. What results is a brilliant blend of ideas. Sitting down to watch the movie, one can't help but dismiss some of Nicholson's various, spontaneous actions as pure creative genius and because of Nicholson, Costello goes from being a cliche to being downright crude and nasty.
Along with Nicholson, Matt Damon is also part of the cast a Colin Sullivan, a character who, like DiCaprio's, is a mole. The twist is that in spite of his perfectly clean past, Sullivan has still been raised as a gangster under the tutelage of none other than Frank Costello. To Sullivan, Costello is his father and there is no better way to repay his father then to help him out by giving him information on the police's actions. Damon has been giving audiences great performances for almost ten years now and it appears as though he only continues to get better.
Rounding out the main cast is DiCaprio, who also gives one of his best performances. DiCaprio's career has been reaching new levels thanks to his collaborations with Scorsese. As Scorsese's "new DeNiro," DiCaprio has begun to show incredible range since his breakout performance in 1997's "Titanic." That range, and growth as an actor, has never been more evident than in "The Departed."
Of additional note are the performances of the supporting cast, especially Mark Wahlberg who takes his tough guy persona to a whole new level.
Serving as a companion piece to the powerhouse performances is William Monahan's script. Filled with witty humor that hasn't been shown to this extent in a Scorsese picture before, the script skillfully balances the bloody with the humane. It allows the film to capture so many great moments of crime, all the while keeping the story line somewhat dramatic and heartfelt. All of this keeps the audience's attention and it involves each moviegoer in a way that films don't do very often.
In the end, the film works because of Scorsese and the performances that he helps to make possible. Many would have made this movie fall flat; many of them would scream that the script was too complicated. Nobody, except Scorsese, could have made this as intense a ride as it was. Not only did he weave together all of the various plot elements (whether that be the characters' past lives or their motivations in the present) but he presented it all flawlessly. Under his direction the movie flows easily from spontaneous humor to grisly violence, all the while remaining completely realistic. The vicious nature of all of the characters is never underplayed; everyone, good guy and bad guy alike, is shown in their true nature and how they respond to different situations is what really resonates. Nothing in the film seems forced and none of the emotions displayed by the various characters seems out of place or too showy. This is a credit to Scorsese, a director whose element is the gangster genre and he doesn't disappoint, delivering his first true masterpiece since "Goodfellas."
'The Departed" is the gripping tale of two men who have lives going in the complete opposite directions. One, Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), is a man that come from the gangster sides of the street and because of his family's life he is unable to become what he wants to most: a cop. What he becomes instead is not just a cop, but a mole for the police in the Irish mafia under the intense leadership of Frank Costello.
Costello (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson) is many things: a gangster, a playboy, a man of power, a father figure to many, but most importantly a monster. Whether it is his casual nature while he flippantly plays with a dead man's hand of his terrifying presence when he first interrogates Costigan, it is obvious that he is a man capable of anything, and the chilling part of that is this: he has the power and the ability to do just that. He murders and sells drugs because to him these things are just a game; these things are just as ordinary to him as watching a movie would be to us. He does it for the money as well, but even when he doesn't need to, he still goes on the runs and plays his games.
Directed by master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" is a flat out masterpiece. While it is a departure from Scorsese's more recent efforts, ("Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator") the film rightfully returns a master to his domain. Scorsese is, without a doubt, the master of the gangster/crime film genre, much like Alfred Hitchcock is considered the master of the suspense genre. Scorsese's mastery of his genre has never been more evident than it is in "The Departed." Running in the vein of such Scorsese classics as "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas," "The Departed" is a great return to form for a brilliant filmmaker.
The case assembled is one of the best ensembles Scorsese has ever presented. The film marks the first time that screen legends Nicholson and Scorsese have paired up, resulting in one of the greatest Nicholson performances within the last decade. Nicholson plays a bad guy, and because he has played the part of a villain many times in different movies ("Batman," "A Few Good Men," and "The Shining") this was a role that he could have easily performed without much effort. To his credit, what made him stand out here was his personal involvement in the film. He improvised much of the lines and actions of his character in the movie, adding a much needed element that wasn't initially located in the script. Rumors swirled on set that Nicholson required Scorsese to shoot each scene at least twice; one as indicated by the script and another the way Nicholson wanted to do it. What results is a brilliant blend of ideas. Sitting down to watch the movie, one can't help but dismiss some of Nicholson's various, spontaneous actions as pure creative genius and because of Nicholson, Costello goes from being a cliche to being downright crude and nasty.
Along with Nicholson, Matt Damon is also part of the cast a Colin Sullivan, a character who, like DiCaprio's, is a mole. The twist is that in spite of his perfectly clean past, Sullivan has still been raised as a gangster under the tutelage of none other than Frank Costello. To Sullivan, Costello is his father and there is no better way to repay his father then to help him out by giving him information on the police's actions. Damon has been giving audiences great performances for almost ten years now and it appears as though he only continues to get better.
Rounding out the main cast is DiCaprio, who also gives one of his best performances. DiCaprio's career has been reaching new levels thanks to his collaborations with Scorsese. As Scorsese's "new DeNiro," DiCaprio has begun to show incredible range since his breakout performance in 1997's "Titanic." That range, and growth as an actor, has never been more evident than in "The Departed."
Of additional note are the performances of the supporting cast, especially Mark Wahlberg who takes his tough guy persona to a whole new level.
Serving as a companion piece to the powerhouse performances is William Monahan's script. Filled with witty humor that hasn't been shown to this extent in a Scorsese picture before, the script skillfully balances the bloody with the humane. It allows the film to capture so many great moments of crime, all the while keeping the story line somewhat dramatic and heartfelt. All of this keeps the audience's attention and it involves each moviegoer in a way that films don't do very often.
In the end, the film works because of Scorsese and the performances that he helps to make possible. Many would have made this movie fall flat; many of them would scream that the script was too complicated. Nobody, except Scorsese, could have made this as intense a ride as it was. Not only did he weave together all of the various plot elements (whether that be the characters' past lives or their motivations in the present) but he presented it all flawlessly. Under his direction the movie flows easily from spontaneous humor to grisly violence, all the while remaining completely realistic. The vicious nature of all of the characters is never underplayed; everyone, good guy and bad guy alike, is shown in their true nature and how they respond to different situations is what really resonates. Nothing in the film seems forced and none of the emotions displayed by the various characters seems out of place or too showy. This is a credit to Scorsese, a director whose element is the gangster genre and he doesn't disappoint, delivering his first true masterpiece since "Goodfellas."