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DiCaprio kills it. Nicholson looks like the Dollar Store version of Beetlejuice. Baldwin's accent sounds like you just went into debt from your $0.10, 10-for-1 Columbia House CD deal. Wahlberg is sexy AF. And Damon? He disappoints one of us.
In this episode, we talk "The Departed"
By the Numbers
- Release Year: 2006
- Budget: $90 million
- Box Office: $291.5 million worldwide
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (critics), 94% (audience)
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
- Academy Awards: 4 Wins (Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing)
- Oscar Nominations: 5 total (Mark Wahlberg nominated for Best Supporting Actor)
Main Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio – Billy Costigan
- Matt Damon – Colin Sullivan
- Jack Nicholson – Frank Costello
- Mark Wahlberg – Sgt. Dignam
- Martin Sheen – Capt. Queenan
- Vera Farmiga – Madolyn Madden
- Alec Baldwin – Capt. Ellerby
Fun Facts
- Nicholson showed up with a dildo in his coat during the “she’s on her period” scene—Scorsese didn’t know he’d do that
- Wahlberg refused to do press for the film unless he got a writing credit for his own lines (he didn’t, but most of his stuff was improvised)
- DiCaprio was so stressed filming this that he started getting panic attacks off set
- Nicholson originally wanted his character to wear a red dildo—Scorsese had to cut him off
- There’s a hidden X in the background before every major death—Scorsese copied it from Scarface
- The script was so violent that Warner Bros tried to pull Nicholson out—he stayed for creative freedom
- Vera Farmiga met with a real LAPD shrink who worked with officers on both sides of the law
Movie Mistakes
- Queenan’s body falls at two totally different angles depending on which shot you watch
- The rooftop gunshot echo doesn’t match what a suppressed weapon would sound like
- Damon pulls out his phone in scenes set before smartphones had those interfaces
- You can see a cameraman’s arm reflected in the elevator metal during the final sequence
- In one scene, Costello’s cigar length changes in four different cuts like it’s teleporting
Key Takeaways
- DiCaprio never got nominated for this movie - BS.
- Wahlberg wasn’t even in the movie that long but stole every scene
- Damon’s character is so hateable, it somehow taints Matt Damon as a person
- Nicholson goes off-script constantly
- The elevator scene is still one of the most shocking in any crime film
- This is the only Best Picture winner where the Academy literally apologized to the director with a trophy
