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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Alexandra
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35
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32
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80
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62
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47
Bella
63
Blind Mountain
71
Blindsight
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Boarding Gate
63
Body of War
58
Bra Boys
70
Caramel
54
Cashback
44
Chaos Theory
32
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82
Chop Shop
46
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30
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Deal
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Dhamma Brothers, The
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
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Favor, The
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57
Flawless
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Honeydripper
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Look
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Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
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OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
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Paranoid Park
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Pathology
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Penelope
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Persepolis
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Planet B-Boy
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Priceless
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U2 3D
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Unforeseen, The
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Witnesses, The
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XXY
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Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
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Young@Heart
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Zombie Strippers
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
91
Up the Yangtze
90
Persepolis
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Savages, The
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
82
Chop Shop
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Unforeseen, The
76
Stuff and Dough
75
Young@Heart
75
Shotgun Stories
74
Witnesses, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Roman de gare
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Life of Reilly, The
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Blindsight
71
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Caramel
69
Redbelt
69
Chicago 10
68
Honeydripper
67
Snow Angels
67
Praying with Lior
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
67
Jellyfish
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
66
Shelter
65
Married Life
64
Surfwise
64
Son of Rambow
64
Water Lilies
63
XXY
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
63
Body of War
63
Blind Mountain
62
Planet B-Boy
62
Battle for Haditha
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
Girls Rock!
59
Under the Same Moon
59
Fugitive Pieces
58
First Saturday in May, The
58
Fall, The
58
Hats Off
58
Bra Boys
57
Flawless
57
Teeth
57
Without the King
57
Grand, The
56
Turn the River
56
Then She Found Me
55
Vice
55
Tracey Fragments, The
55
Pathology
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
54
Cashback
54
Mister Lonely
52
Noise
52
My Blueberry Nights
50
Look
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
48
Dark Matter
48
Penelope
47
Bella
47
Boarding Gate
46
CJ7
46
Previous Engagement, A
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
45
Zombie Strippers
44
Frontier(s)
44
Chaos Theory
43
Anamorph
43
Favor, The
41
Funny Games
40
Sleepwalking
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
35
Meet Bill
35
Babysitters, The
35
Deal
32
Backseat
32
Chapter 27
30
Cover
24
Sex and Death 101
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
17
Prom Night
xx
Tashan
xx
Unsettled
xx
Plumm Summer, A
xx
Kiss the Bride
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
xx
From Within
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Departed, The
Warner Bros. Pictures
 |
|
FILM:
TV:
MPAA RATING: R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material
Starring
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Matt Damon,
Jack Nicholson,
Mark Wahlberg,
Martin Sheen,
Ray Winstone,
Vera Farmiga,
and
Alec Baldwin
This gritty crime drama from director Martin Scorsese takes us into the lives of two cops: Colin Sullivan (Damon), smart and unabashedly ambitious, appears to be on the fast track in the Massachusetts State Police Department's elite Special Investigations Unit, whose prime target is powerful Irish mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson). Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), street-smart and tough, is purported to have a violent temper that costs him his badge and eventually lands him back on the rough streets of South Boston, where he is recruited into Costello's ranks. But neither man is what he seems and, as they work at cross purposes, they are plunged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse in which the stakes could not be higher. (Warner Bros.)
| GENRE(S): |
Crime
|
Drama
|
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
William Monahan
Siu Fai Mak and Felix Chong (screenplay Wu jian dao, aka Infernal Affairs)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Martin Scorsese
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 13, 2007
Theatrical: October 6, 2006
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
149 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Named Best Picture of 2006 at the 79th Annual Academy Awards; received a total of 5 Oscar nominations. The story of The Departed is based on the 2002 crime thriller out of Hong Kong called Infernal Affairs.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
A new American crime classic from the legendary Martin Scorsese, whose talent shines here on its highest beams.

100
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A ferociously entertaining film.

100
Newsweek
David Ansen
The Departed is Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years. But it's not for the faint of heart. It's rude, bleak, violent and defiantly un-PC. But if you doubt that it's also OK to laugh throughout this rat's nest of paranoia, deceit and bloodshed, keep your eyes on the final frames. Scorsese's parting shot is an uncharacteristic, but well-earned, wink.

100
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
The original film was gritty and entertaining ("Infernal Affairs"); the new version is a masterpiece - the best effort Scorsese has brought to the screen since "Goodfellas."

100
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
A triumphant revisiting of territory in which Scorsese is an unchallenged master -- the crime drama.

100
LA Weekly
Scott Foundas
DiCaprio harnesses a terrific, buggy intensity reminiscent of "GoodFellas'" hopped-up Henry Hill (Ray Liotta).

100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
When a director of Scorsese's caliber is working at the top of his game, it's a reminder of why we go to the movies in the first place.

100
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The screenplay, by William Monahan, is simply sensational. Scenes play brilliantly. Feelings flow like molten lava. The dialogue overflows with edgy wit and acidulous arias of imprecation.
100
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
This is the most vibrant, exciting and invigorating movie-movie of the year.

100
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
A movie-movie of the first rank.

100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Thelma Schoonmaker, a Scorsese collaborator for over a quarter-century, did the bull's-eye editing. The moviemaking throughout is swift, unaffected, masterly.

100
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
A thrilling return to form.

100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It is intriguing to wonder what Scorsese saw in the Hong Kong movie that inspired him to make the second remake of his career (after "Cape Fear"). I think he instantly recognized that this story, at a buried level, brought two sides of his art and psyche into equal focus.

91
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It isn't in the same league as the director's best work, chiefly because it lacks the bravura flourishes of cinematic craft that helped make his name. But it's so vital and bloody and funny and wicked and tense and unapologetic that it feels kin to those films, which little of the director's work of the past decade has managed to pull off.

91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Whatever it is, the film is the first major release of the fall worth talking about: a fast-paced, visually slick, psychologically fascinating Boston-set cops-and-crooks saga.

91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The very title The Departed suggests a James Joycean take on Irish-Catholic sentiment when, of course, this story is anything but: It's Scorsesean, and he's in full bloom.

91
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
DiCaprio's performance is a revelation only for those who have underestimated him. In Scorsese's previous films, "The Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator," he seemed callow and miscast, but here he has the presence of a full-bodied adult. He's grown into his emotions.

90
Variety
Todd McCarthy
This reworking of a popular Hong Kong picture pulses with energy, tangy dialogue and crackling performances from a fine cast.

90
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Scorsese didn't need to remake "Infernal Affairs," but what he has done with it is a compliment rather than an affront to the original: The Departed reimagines its source material rather than just leeching off it, preserving the bone structure of the first movie while finding new curves in it. The story has been clarified; the ellipses of the original have been filled in with just the right amount of exploratory shading. This is a picture of grand gestures and subtle intricacies, a movie that, even at more than two hours long, feels miraculously lean. It's a smart shot of lucid storytelling.

89
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
This is a dream cast for both Scorsese and the viewer, and everyone is working at the peak of their craft. Nicholson's flawless performance as the increasingly unhinged crime boss is a marvel of manic, paranoid ruination.

88
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
When The Departed roars to life, as it does in so many of its scenes, you feel like nobody understands movies -- the delirious highs, the unforgiving moral depths -- as well as this man does. Welcome back, Marty.

88
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The profanity-laced but witty and literate dialogue by William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven") is delivered by a brilliantly chosen cast, almost all of whom are operating at the very top of their game.

88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
The film's score and editing brilliantly heighten the film's energy, keeping the audience somewhat off-kilter and unsure where things are headed.

88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
It's a movie with a pulse. Sometimes, it flies off the chart.

80
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
What helps make The Departed at once a success and a relief isn't that the director of "Kundun," Mr. Scorsese's deeply felt film about the Dalai Lama, is back on the mean streets where he belongs; what's at stake here is the film and the filmmaking, not the director's epic importance.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Frequently excessive but never dull, The Departed is a little too much of a lot of the things that define Martin Scorsese films but it's also almost impossible to resist. Too operatic at times, too in love with violence and macho posturing at others, it's a potboiler dressed up in upscale designer clothes, but oh how that pot does boil.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Crackles right along, stopping only long enough for Scorsese's signature bursts of explosive violence. Those brawls feel a bit rote, but what's different here is a newfound playful humor.

80
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
The movie works smashingly, especially if you haven't seen its Hong Kong counterpart and haven't a clue what's coming. But for all its snap, crackle, and pop, it's nowhere near as galvanic emotionally.

80
Empire
Roberto Sadovski
Back to the streets and with a stellar cast, Martin Scorsese proves once again that he's the master of urban storytelling -- and of thrillingly violent filmmaking.

80
The New Yorker
David Denby
Not one of Scorsese's greatest films; it doesn't use the camera to reveal the psychological and aesthetic dimensions of an entire world, as "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," and "Goodfellas" did. But it's a viciously merry, violent, high-wattage entertainment, and speech is the most brazenly flamboyant element in it.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The Departed exists in a movie-place about as far from personal statements as a storied director can get. Maybe those days for Scorsese are long gone. But Scorsese's sense of craft remains sure.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
There's no attempt at greatness here, just a fabulously successful attempt at a good crime movie. The Oscar-bait self-consciousness of "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator" is gone. In its place is a buoyancy, an impish delight in telling a harsh urban story in the most effective terms possible.

70
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The Departed is completely engrossing, a master class in suspense. But in moral terms it may be the least involving story that Scorsese -- an artist much preoccupied with morality -- has ever taken on.

70
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
This isn't to say The Departed is a bad movie, far from it, but knowing who's directing it and the amount of talent he had to work with, it's hard not to be disappointed that Scorsese didn't knock us on our asses. Is it his best movie since "Goodfellas?" Sure, but it falls shy of that film's excellence.

70
Slate
Dana Stevens
It's nice to see Scorsese back in the saddle and a treat to find a cops-and-robbers thriller with some energy and wit. But even so, it's a stylish head rush of a movie that flies by, even at two-and-a-half hours, and keeps turning the knife (and your stomach) up to the final scene.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Rarely has a star's look-at-me turn so completely torpedoed a project. Whenever the picture threatens to gain some momentum, up pops Jack to stop it dead in its tracks. The loyal few may be laughing with him, but the rest of us are definitely laughing at him.

60
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Neither a debacle nor a bore, The Departed works but only up to a point, and never emotionally--even if the director does contrive to supply his version of a happy ending.

50
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Scorsese in his prime might've made better use of this hamming, but this picture feels like an exercise by a Scorsese clone who has tackled the master's themes - without his energy and economy of style.

40
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
Is Scorsese desperate? This screenplay has the scent of it, as if he is scraping for material to feed his basic filmic interests. But the risk in this case--not evaded--was that his need led him close to painful strain. I can't remember another Scorsese moment as shockingly banal as the finishing touch here.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 482 User Votes
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