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"After a couple attempts at white elephant, Oscar-chasing art, Scorsese retreats with a remake of a (barely noteworthy,
in my opinion) Hong Kong crime drama and crams it full of stars for good measure. And whaddya know -- with the help of William
Monahan's pungent script, he gets not only some of the best reviews of his life, but the biggest box office as well. See what
happens when you stop trying and just do? (I think Kundun said that.) Nicholson's accused of scenery chewing, but,
as The Departed's heart and soul, he's really gnawing at the edges of the film, like a rat... or a termite." - Kent M.
Beeson
"Marty’s comeback? The man hasn’t gone anywhere; it’s the audience that refused to follow him- to 1870s
New York , to Tibet , and so forth. That said, it’s good to see Scorsese jump back into the genre that more or less
(ahem) made him, without sacrificing any of his style or verve. But Scorsese has always surrounded himself with able collaborators,
and The Departed is no exception- William Monahan wrote the complex and gleefully salty screenplay, and the cast, made up
almost entirely of Scorsese newbies, is as good as any from this past year. Some have complained that The Departed is too
long, but I can’t imagine it working without the initial 90 minutes of buildup- it’s because Scorsese, Monahan,
and the rest have laid the groundwork, establishing the principals and the conflicts, that once the reckonings come down and
the bodies begin piling up, it means something rather than being simply a series of killings and plot twists." - Paul Clark
1. The Departed (103 points/10 votes)
2 (tie). Children of Men (98/8)
2 (tie). United 93 (98/8)
4. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (75/9)
5. A Prairie Home Companion (56/7)
6. Pan's Labyrinth (53/6)
7. The Prestige (52/4)
8. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (39/5)
9. The Proposition (34/4)
10. Little Children (30/4)
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