Great flick! Couple of questions, dudes:

1)Is it true that Ed Norton was already cast as the character Leo played, but pulled out of the project during filming because he was beefing wth Damon?

2)Is the movie better than Miami Vice?

I finally caught this w/ my wife and we both enjoyed the hell out of it. ****1/2 out of five.

Terrific movie - with so many outstanding performances. (Yes, I've seen the IA trilogy and loved it.)

As others have said or implied, one of the rewards of this movie is seeing the "cute guys" (Damon, DiCaprio & Wahlberg) all pull off adult roles, matching two of the best actors ever (Nicholson & Sheen).

Miami Vice and The Departed are two entirely different animals. They're both about undercover cops, but that's where it ends. Miami Vice is all about the procedure and completely empty on character -- like an R-rated Law & Order. The Departed is all about the characters.

Miami Vice was one of the worst films I saw this year, I really hated it. I really liked the Departed. As for people laughing in the theater at the ending, while that can be a bad thing(like the laughing that was erupting during my screening of Miami Vice), in this case, I think it was just astonishment at the sequence of rapid fire events. I laughed a bit too, but it wasn't because I thought it was silly and I suspect the same thing was going on with the oher laughers.

I could be wrong though.

I saw it again this weekend and this is really bugging me after a second viewing

Nicholson's character being an FBI informant is the most realistic part of the movie.

^^^ anyone know?

I have seen this twice now and the second time was better, mainly because I wasn't trying to second guess it because i have seen IA1 and IA2 so many times.
Just one of the best casts for sometime (well until Smoking Aces comes out!).
I saw this 1st in the UK and 2nd when I was on holiday in SF, obviously the Patriact act joke got a better laugh in the US, but I thought Baldwin got some great laughs in (I presume most of the actors were allowed a certain amount of improv).
I'm not a Leonardo fan but I thought he was excellent in this role and it was great to see Damon in a baddie role.
Also this film has to have some of the best lines of the year and a def for a purchase on DVD. I can just imagine watching this while working nights at my job.

In this case I think any laughter had more to do with the utter "WTF?!?!!" shock of how it all went down. I don't think it was about a stupid public.

Too bad that wasn't made clear enough. It's really just left to one's own assumption.

You're completely right, RocShemp:



To get away from the ending for a minute, Baldwin's "I'm gonna go have a smoke right now. You want a smoke? You don't smoke, do ya, right? What are ya, one of those fitness freaks, huh? Go fuck yourself" line had the entire theater laughing pretty loudly and got the biggest reaction (the second biggest was from Nicholson's rat impression). Combine that with him celebrating the Patriot Act along with his "mother/wife" exchange with Wahlberg, and the man is just comic gold in the movie.

I enjoyed the the film, but have a question about the ending:

I absolutely loved this film. It's surpassed Raging Bull for me as my favourite Scorsese work. Where Raging Bull's direction is flashier, more masterful; The Departed is just suspenseful, wonderfully acted, plot driven, kick ass entertainment.

I immediately went out and saw Infernal Affairs (well, I saw a late screening of The Departed so it was next morning), and I find it funny how the director of Infernal Affairs casts off The Departed as "the Hollywood version" so dismissively. If anything, Infernal Affairs is.



Just my thoughts. I thought The Departed (A+) was far better than Infernal Affairs (A-).

Wow, that was a lot of headshot kills hehe.

^ Wow, that's a fine way to fucking spoiler a movie.

OMG!!?!! You mean people die in this movie?!?!

I now have a new #1 movie after finally seeing this. From what I've watched, this easily has the best acting I've seen this year. I love the scenes with DiCaprio and Nicholson, especially the face to face conversation in the bar about 90 minutes into the film. It's a great exchange between the two. It's wonderful to see one of the all-time greats sharing the screen with one of today's great actors. DiCaprio, in my opinion, does not get near enough credit for his acting ability. He's got great range. I'm wondering if the role for Nicholson was originally written for DeNiro. It certainly seems like it was, but Jack was great as usual.

I think the 2nd act is probably the best part of the film. The pace really picks up and there's lots of tension. Just a great movie overall with a knockout cast. Unless something else wows me over the next few weeks, I think I know what I'm rooting for come Oscar time.

I'm surprised that Sullivan was able to without any remorse.

Maybe Sullivan really had no remorse, which explained why he was able to do what he was doing all along.

***
If you had to pick one (1) actor to win an Oscar from this film, who would it be? DiCaprio, Damon, Wahlberg, or Nicholson?

If Martin Scorsese doesn't win his Best Director Oscar for this film, then the next time really will be more of an honorary thing.

Nobody really thought Scorsese had any more left to him, but this film proved all the nay'sayers wrong. This film was amazing, and if Scorsese wins the Oscar for this film, it will be because he deserves it.

And the fellow who wrote this screenplay also deserves to win. it was very tight.

who exactly said he had nothing left? he got raves after "The Aviator" and decent for Gangs.
frankly, i think he has a lot left.
and "The Departed" should win it for him and will win it for him. when tonight nets him the GG, it will be locked up.

Damon. The part where he breaks down in the elevator was my favorite.