# My problems with The Departed (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650 "2006-10-31T22:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650/21 "2007-11-11T05:00:09Z")
We saw **Infernal Affairs I** at the PSFF, and I thought it was great. My wife didn’t care for it, because she thought it was “too Hollywood…” Anyone who liked **The Departed** (and doesn’t mind subtitles) should see it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650/22 "2007-11-11T18:28:54Z")
I know I watched **The Departed** but I can’t remember a damn thing about it. I guess I didn’t care for it. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650/23 "2007-11-11T18:51:41Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] I agree with you and was totally underwhelmed by the film. Critics seemed to be universally saying that it was Scorsese’s “comeback”, his best film since _Goodfellas_, et cetera. I thought it was weak, disjointed, and failed to make me care about any of the characters. Casting Jack Nicholson as a Southie Irish gangster was an utter miss as far as I’m concerned–he came off as just another rendition of “Jack”–and while Alec Baldwin was brilliantly hilarious in playing a variation on Blake from _Glengarry Glen Ross_, he totally pulled me out of the film every time. I’d rather watch _Casino_, _The Aviator_, or even _The Gangs of New York_ again than this film. And while the Best Director and Best Picture Awards were long, long overdue, they should have been issued retroactively for _Raging Bull_, _Taxi Driver_, _The Age of Innocence_, or even _Goodfellas_ rather than this film. A big wet noodle of a film, and I agree with the o.p. that I can’t understand why people are so ga-ga over it. Scorsese has done vastly superior if underappreciated work. Stranger [/QUOTE] I totally agree with your assessment. Being Irish and growing up around there, I was really looking forward to seeing the movie, and left the theater totally disappointed. Another thing about Hollywood that I don’t get, why can’t anyone do a fucking Massachusetts accent (particularly a south shore accent in this case)? Mark Wahlberg being from Dorchester could obviously do it, but even Matt Damon’s was a little off (he’s from the People’s Republic of Cambridge and from what I can tell never really had an accent). Everyone else’s accent in this movie was either non-existent or horrendous. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650/24 "2007-11-11T21:57:34Z")
[State of Grace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100685/) was a similar enough film but was superior IMHO. It’s set amongst New York Irish gangsters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-problems-with-the-departed-open-spoilers/378650.md?page=1)