Best Movies of 2006: The Departed

They say that you don't fully appreciate a great movie until you watch it again and again. This is most definitely the case for 'The Departed'. When I first watched this movie, I was somewhat not completely in awe by it (as I had watched the Hong Kong version of the film first, 'Infernal affairs'). But after watching it again, I must admit that what Scorcese has done here, is to create a movie that is probably going to be one of the best movies of our lifetime.

This comes after a conversation with Voon Kiat when he argued that Lord of the Rings will probably be the best film of our lifetime. I argued back that 'The Departed' would most likely be the best movie made in our lifetime, in which he believed it wasn't so. I think he believes that because when we watched it for the first time, we knew the plot, and the ending. What I do recommend for those who have already watched 'Infernal Affairs' then 'The Departed' is to watch the movie again. It is only then do you fully appreciate the movie, because by then you are not waiting to be suprised, but rather you are now noticing the details of the movie. And boy, does Scorcese do a brilliant job of paying attention to detail.

The Departed is about a cat and mouse chase between an undercover cop in the mafia, and a mafia member going undercover in the police department. Leonardo Di Caprio plays Bily Costigan, who is the undercover cop, and Matt Damon plays Colin Sullivan, the undercover mafia member in the police force. The plot's brilliant - both sides find out that they have a rat in their groups, and Scorcese does a brilliant job in ensuring the pace of the film suits the intensity of the cat and mouse chase.

What I loved about the movie was the script. The conversations, the one-liners. For me, the racial slur (God forbid) that Jack Nicholson (who plays the Mafia head, Frank Castello) starts off with in the beginning of the movie shows that this movie means business: 'I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me. Years ago we had the church. That was only a way of saying - we had each other. The Knights of Columbus were real head-breakers; true guineas. They took over their piece of the city. Twenty years after an Irishman couldn't get a fucking job, we had the presidency. May rest in peace. That's what the niggers don't realize. If I got one thing against the black chappies, it's this - no one gives it to you. You have to take it.'

Its moments like this that will make me remember this movie. The acting is brilliant - someone here's going to win an Oscar, and its not about whether they're going to, its how many they'll win. Leonardo Di Caprio, to me, does a wonderful job in acting out the role of Billy Costigan - the confused kid, who cannot clarify his role as the undercover cop. What is he supposed to do? Act like one of them? He can't, because his moral values won't let him. He can't even commit murder. But this is what his bosses want him to do. For me, that long awaited Oscar for Di Caprio must come now for this role.

This movie has so many great moments in it - its uncountable. Don't watch it once, watch it twice. In fact, watch it thrice. The more you watch it, the more you appreciate it. After all, its a Scorcese film.

Rating: 4.6/5

Written by Kevin Lau

The Holiday

The Holiday is a movie about 2 people (Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz) who have quite a bit in common except for the fact that they've fallen out with men in someway or another. They decide to exchange houses for their Xmas holidays, and what ensues is that they meet people (ableit a sense of boredom felt by them both at the start) and through that they change themselves, and learn not to cling on things that have been haunting them in the past.

Kate Winslet plays Iris, a woman who's been in love with her ex-boyfriend for 3 years now, and in many ways still clinging on to him and fails to realise that he's using her. Cameron Diaz plays Amanda, a wokaholic, who has not been able to cry since she was 15 years old, and has been unable to connect with anyone emotionally. The men that they meet in their holidays, Graham (played by Jude Law), and Miles (Jack Black), charm them in many ways, and they start falling for each other.

The movie's a romantic comedy, and in many ways it works. It gives you this warm feeling by the end of the movie, and you are always rooting for a happy ending, even though you know one is coming at the end. The script is far from cheesy or cliched, in fact it plays around those cliches especially since Amanda is situated in LA where the heart of the movie industry is. And to me, its because of that, the movie works. This movie could have been easily another one of those corny romantic movies, but it isn't.

Aside from the fact that it is primarily a romantic comedy, I felt that the most important theme in this movie was about how people should change. Both women are so haunted by their past, that they won't let it go. It's only appropriate when Arthur (Iris' neighbour when she lives in LA) says to her in reference to her ex-boyfriend, 'in the movies, we have a leading lady, and a best friend. You are playing the best friend. You shouldn't be. You should be playing the leading lady'.

The acting performances are commendable, but Kate Winslet and Jack Black stood out for me. I feel that Kate Winslet has come a long way from her performance in the Titanic (which I personally felt she was not great in that movie), and after performances from 'Finding Neverland' and 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', she has really established herself as one of the best actresses in Hollywood at the moment. Jack Black for me, gives his best performance yet. He's usually all screwball comedy (as Roger Ebert would put it), but in this movie, he strikes a balance.

For me, this movie was a rather good holiday movie. It is far from being one of those commercial movies, and I would strongly recommend it.

Rating: 3.8/5

Written by Kevin Lau

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