I prefer Honor from older movies. :)
Posted on 10/10/2006 8:51:43 AM PDT by Lucas McCain
While most of the posts here are upset with the use of the "F" word, I am very upset with the film's theme. That theme was stated very early on in the film when the director created a confusion of who was whom and followed it quickly with the dialogue, become a cop or a crook -- what's the difference? The rest of the film went on to blur the distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, cop and crook. To be sure, the police and the FBI have been guilty, from time to time, of serious misjudgments and misapplication of due process, but I refuse to believe that we can make no distinction between the good guys and the bad guys, the cops and the crooks. Martin Scorsese's film, The Departed" is a remarkably good example of filmmaking, but it is also a remarkably strong example of what is wrong with the moral and ethical vision of Hollywood. If Scorsese's thematic truth were really true, what should we do? Should we go to the movies, refuse to pay for our tickets, and, when challenged, simply shoot the ticket-taker to death? Or, when buying a new car, simply drive it off the lot and shoot at anyone who tries to stop us? If Scorsese's 'truth' is true, that's exactly what we should do! The fact is, the director's truth is not true -- it is the opposite of truth! And, therein lies the problem with "The Departed."
I thought this could have been a good movie had the last fifteen minutes made any sense. It did not and had an impossible ending.
Don't care about the violence, the swearing or the unlovable characters but insist on the plot making sense. Jack Nicholson was very annoying too.
I just found my new tagline.
I've been hearing that, while the combat scenes are well done and moving, the majority of the movie is more about the "victimization" of the flag raisers by our evil, cynical Government.
The primary problem with The Departed is the botched ending. It could have been a good movie and it is hard to believe Scorcese did not see that the ending made no sense.
That was a good one...made for TV so It got a lot of exposure.
I'm more than a little worried after reading reviews like this one from people that I usually agree with,
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/10/weekend_box_off_27.html
Paints the heros as victims and doesn't stay with the book's theme.
"Flags of Our Fathers"--Being brief here b/c I want you to read my full review, "Dirty Harry's White Flag on Patriotism." Slaps American patriotism in the face. Anti-war movie on the men who raised the flag in the Joe Rosenthal portrait at Iwo Jima. It's the wrong message at the wrong time (and any other time). Attacking our patriotic icons in the name of attacking war sullies us all. Sometimes war is not only necessary, it is imperative. Ditto for the "mythical" images that symbolize it
I prefer Honor from older movies. :)
As someone that was not able to serve, and the son of a Vietnam Veteran, I do what I can as a member of the Sons of The American Legion...Adjutant of SAL Squadron 103. I never saw my father's pride flag but I've been working to make sure our men and women in uniform never need to question themselves or their service again.
If you know others in my situation, encourage them to join SAL at their local American Legion post!
NO. The problem was with the beginning. It was there that the filmmaker made both protagonists virtual look-alikes. And, by doing so, Scorcese stated his major theme, namely, that there is no real difference between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys.' The rest of "The Departed" played to that theme consistently, and finished with a murder committed by a policeman. Look, Scorcese is a terrific filmmaker, but what he dished up this time is/was an insult to any ethical consciousness. Perhaps, Scorcese is so enamored of his 'street roots' that he really thought all of us were just like him. He was/is wrong.
Yes, I'm hearing that, too. One might have thought a simple salute to the magnificent heroes of the Pacific War was in order, but Hollywood just can't resist taking gratuitous slaps at the nation and people who feed it. Shameful - but, then, a sense of shame is a scarce commodity these days, and virtually nonexistent in Hollywood.
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