The Departed (2006)
Director: Martin Scorcese
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon
The film directed by Martin Scorcese is a remarkable film. Not only because of the plot and storyline, but also because the flawless execution from the actors. Any person can take words from a script and put them into action, but a good actor relies on his skill set to make the words and actions truly alive. "Memorizing lines and repeating them in a believable fashion is the essence of acting; however, actors use different methods in their performances. Whichmethod they use often depends upon the film, or the role itself" (Goodykoontz & 2014).
The Departed stars Jack Nicholson, the leader of an Irish thug gang, Matt Damon, Nicholson's apprentice and cop, and Leonardo DiCaprio, an undercover cop infiltrating the gang. Jack Nicholson's uses a naturalistic performance to play the vicious criminal leader, Frank Costello. He portrays Costello as a business-loving, fun-having criminal with a way of staying out of hand cuffs. His wittiness can only be learned by life on the streets. Matt Damon, Colin Sullivan, meets Costello as a boy as is instantly fascinated and eager to work for the gangster. As he grows, he learns more about the "family business" and they set a plan to have Sullivan become a state trooper. Damon also uses realism type of acting to play a naive kid to a conieving adult.
Billy Costigan, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is a complex character. He is willing to do anything to be a police officer, including playing a double agent and infiltrating a dangerous gang that will later take his life. The toll of playing two different people day in and day out begins to wear him thin. His constant paranoia and insomnia drive him to beg a psychiatrist for drugs. The intense scene is one of Leonardo's best scene in the film. His desperation is evident. DiCaprio's use of method acting made his need and desperation believable. The audience begins to empathize with him, as well as his stubborn psychiatrist.
Resources:
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.
Grant, B. K. (Ed.). (2012). Film genre reader IV [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the eBrary database.
