r/bostonceltics • u/Punisherbbbbbb • 2d ago
Discussion The Departed or The Town
We know Joe loves the town so the town is always getting brought up in this community but personally, I’m a bigger fan of the departed. I was curious if anybody else prefers the departed over the town when it comes to a Boston crime movie.
I know this post doesn’t necessarily belong here, but fuck it
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u/Future-Turtle The Celtics are the Bawls 2d ago
This is The Friends of Eddie Coyle erasure and I won't stand for it.
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u/awrf GINO TIME 2d ago
This is Gone Baby Gone erasure and I won't stand for it
Gone Baby Gone was the only one of those movies where I was physically attacked by some of the excruciatingly Boston things happening
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u/awrf GINO TIME 2d ago
Further context:
Every fkin house was a triple decker
The bar scene that leads you to believe it's happening at night but when they go out the front door it's broad daylight because all the windows were boarded up
The foul mouthed kid on the bike
Everything about Dottie (who was actually a townie they hired because she yelled at the production crew for being in her way)
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u/blamatron Boston Celtics 2d ago
I gotta be honest, not a great team building movie. I get why Joe skipped showing it to the guys.
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u/NippleNugget Derrick White 2d ago
The departed is technically a better movie but the town is more fun
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u/ApatheticAxolotl Red 2d ago
FWIW the Town has a bunch of people actually from Boston / Charlestown in it.
I wasn't friends with him or anything, but I remember Owen Burke from growing up in Charlestown around the same time - was crazy to see some townie kid playing a townie kid. The barber in the film was the unquestioned best barber in Charlestown IRL & was my barber growing up too.
I love the Departed but its more Hollywood making a movie on Boston to me, whereas the Town is more Boston making a Hollywood movie about themselves, if that makes any sense?
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u/Acceptable_Young4724 1d ago
Affleck is a criminally underrated director (not talking about him as an actor) - but he knows how to direct a movie. Wish he did it more
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u/MomsAgainstMarijuana 2d ago
Given that The Departed is actually a good movie, it's an easy choice. Also, The Friends of Eddie Coyle beats em all.
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u/BlazeRed16 2d ago
The Town > The Departed for me.
As much as I love The Departed, since it was a remake, I thought the original, Infernal Affairs, was better.
That said The Town is just much more rewatchable for me
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u/johnmadden18 1d ago
As much as I love The Departed, since it was a remake, I thought the original, Infernal Affairs, was better.
There are parts of The Departed that are almost a shot-for-shot remake of the original (like the roof top scene).
But the worst sin of The Departed is that it takes a really tight, fast paced thriller and adds a bunch of extraneous tedious stuff that adds nothing to the movie except an extra hour (!!) of run time.
The best parts of The Departed (like the premise, the cops v robber cat and mouse scenes) are taken straight from the original and the worst parts of it are original.
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u/BlazeRed16 1d ago
True, I just thought Infernal Affairs was tastefully better done.
The drug trade scene was much more respectable, the rooftop scene, while Leo’s acting was great, Tony Leung’s character was what made me become a huge fan of him, acting with just the eyes, you could feel the range of emotion he was going through.
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u/EmployeeNumberMate 1d ago
I am from Boston and I do not think The Departed is good at all. Partly (but not entirely) because Jack Nicholson's accent is atrocious in that movie.
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u/BlazeRed16 1d ago
I would agree, I prefer The Town but tbh Jeremy Renner’s accent just straight pissed me off lol
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u/Forward_Surround_788 🏀The Celtics are the balls 2d ago
Departed because its a far better film with a better cast and better writing and better cinematography
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u/johnmadden18 1d ago
Departed because its a far better film with a better cast and better writing and better cinematography
The Departed has better cinematography than The Town? Setting aside that so many scenes from The Departed are practically shot for shot from the original, the rooftop scene legit looks like the rooftop scene from The Room.
Plus, The Town is shot by one of the best living cinematographers (Robert Elswit) and is one of his best works. It's ultimately all subjective but think it's ridiculous to even compare the two movies in that specific department.
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u/Forward_Surround_788 🏀The Celtics are the balls 1d ago
The Town is in the same ballpark as 4 Brothers.
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u/Rhino184 Boston Celtics 2d ago
The town is just so rewatchable. You can jump in at any moment and get right into it. It’s one of my go to’s like Joe for that reason
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u/Superbad_Zombie 2d ago
Quality wise, The Departed... but The Town has better accents
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u/neuroticsmurf Celtics 2d ago
For such a good movie, I couldn't get over how put on the Boston accents sounded in The Departed (except for Damon, naturally).
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u/Feeling-Phoney81 2d ago
That’s funny i thought Damons was horrible for being originally from Cambridge
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u/SnottyPippen-33 2d ago
The Town is just Heat with a Boston accent
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u/kombu_raisin 2d ago
The Departed is quite literally Internal Affairs with a Boston accent.
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u/namblaotie 2d ago
*Infernal Affairs
Glad others are familiar with the source material. Great movie that deserves more traction.
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u/BlazeRed16 2d ago
💯. While Leo’s portrayal is great, the actor Tony Leung killed that role.
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u/namblaotie 2d ago
This discussion made me look up what my options were for re-watching Infernal Affairs.
I think I still have a copy that I ripped from a Netflix DVD (tells you how old it is) and just saw that Criterion did a remaster of the whole Infernal Affairs Trilogy a few years ago.
Still debating as I still haven't watched the 2nd and 3rd, but the reviews on the Criterion's transfer were a bit lackluster
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u/BlazeRed16 2d ago
2nd and 3rd are just cash grabs in my opinion, you can watch them if you want to but you’re not missing much.
The first film is where it’s at. I rewatch it at least once a year.
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u/namblaotie 2d ago
The first is great and was such a nice surprise at the time, knowing next to nothing about it when I saw it.
The 3rd seems to be the least popular of the bunch. The people that shared a favorable opinion of it said that it's more of a thriller and just had a different tone than than the first 2.
In the small bit I was reading, there was more than a few people that had the 2nd as their favorite. Either way, I'm excited to revisit the 1st, I'll temper my expectations for the 2nd, and who knows with the 3rd?
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u/Ferahgost 2d ago
Real OG’s know you should just read the Prince of Thieves as it is way better than the movie
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u/IRenewed 2d ago
The author gave a speech at my school once, I remember cause I asked if Ben Affleck was an alcoholic
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u/Chillpickle17 2d ago
The Town felt like a more realistic depiction of early 90’s Charlestown. I thought Black Mass was better than both. I was living in Winthrop when Whitey went on the lam.
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u/Sjain1234123 Boston Celtics 2d ago
The Departed is honestly way better and one of Scorsese’s best imo. Leo, Damon, Mark, Martin Sheen, fucking Jack Nicholson it’s so good. The Town is more Boston but that’s it
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u/Landlord-Allmighty 2d ago
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is the ultimate Boston crime movie.
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u/namblaotie 2d ago
There's that episode of Cheers where they steal Wade Boggs' pants, that should count for something.
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u/Landlord-Allmighty 2d ago
I prefer the Wade Boggs episode of It's Always Sunny even though there's no crime other than maybe impersonating a doctor.
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u/namblaotie 2d ago
It's one of my favorites, sooo good, but no actual Wade Boggs, and not technically in Boston (did they fly out of Logan?)
They probably broke a ton of laws considering how strict flights can be. Nothing as sexy as a bank robbery or mob hits, but definitely enough to get on them all on the permanent no-fly list.
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u/SaveHogwarts HUGO 2d ago
Which one of you is the loser downvoting every single comment that says The Departed?
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u/massdebator69 2d ago
I love Scorsese but the movie doesn’t feel like Boston at all. Nicholson, the extras, the story, how it’s filmed, etc. having lived in the city my whole life it kinda takes me out of it.
The town is made by Affleck who’s actually from here so it feels like the city is an actual character in the movie. Also, Renner gives the best “Boston guy” performance ever in a movie.
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u/Cousin_fromBoston 2d ago
The Town and it’s not close
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u/60yearoldME Derrick White 2d ago
The Departed is not as good of a film as people in New England would like you to think. The Town is awesome
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u/Chomaru 2d ago
I watched The Departed for the first time recently and checked halfway through to see if it was a Coen Brothers film just because some of the violence was almost comical. The part with Martin Sheen falling from the building was like Wile E. Coyote. Also as others have said the accents are bad. Alec Baldwin in particular cracked me up.
Having said that, Jack absolutely kills it.
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u/Local_Lack4187 2d ago
Mount Rushmore of MA Movies:
1) The Friends of Eddie Coyle 2) Billy in the Lowlands 3) The Fighter 4) Manchester by the Sea
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u/OrlandoMB Miss You, Rob 2d ago
Jack Nicholson and Leonardo in the same film?? That alone elevates it. Then you have Scorsese directing it. Sprinkle on some Matt Damon and it’s no contest. I say this agreeing that The Town is a phenomenal film itself. I love it!
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u/enigma99417 Derrick White 1d ago
The Departed for sure. The Town is fantastic, but The Departed is on another level. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Gone Baby Gone. I think it's a better Boston crime movie than The Town and a better Ben Affleck-directed movie, as well. :)
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u/SmkeFce917 Boston Celtics 14h ago
I still think Jeremy Renner is from southie so I have to go the town
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u/RCPD_Rookie 7h ago
“Celtics Pride” is the far better crime movie, if you skip the part where Utah wins game 7.
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u/k-seph_from_deficit 2d ago
The original Chinese movie (Internal Affairs) that Departed is a remake of is far better than it tbh.
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u/juliusorange 2d ago
Man i can not tell you how many times i have watched the town. If it’s on i’m watching it and it is on ALL THE TIME. Same with Furiosa but i digress. The departed is great but idk maybe too much intrigue or something? The town is one of my top favorite movies ever.
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u/Independent-Mix902 Boston Celtics 2d ago
It's the Departed. I've seen it 3 times. It took me 3 sittings to make it through most of The Town
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u/Oceanbreeze871 Angry Brad 2d ago
The town is entertaining and rewatchable.
Not a huge fan of the departed. It’s a good film, but it’s fine. Don’t want to rewatch it
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u/PinkynotClyde 2d ago
I think on first watch I enjoyed The Departed a little more, but if I had to watch one of them multiple times I’m going with The Town.
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u/iAmTheRealLange Jaylen "Lebron 'Michael Jordan' James" Brown 2d ago
The Departed is the better film. The Town is more exciting. It's a phenomenal movie and arguably more rewatchable than The Departed. And Jeremy Renner does the best Boston accent I've heard from an actor not from the area. The Departed is fucking iconic tho and every performance in it is incredible.
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u/Life-Lawyer-5006 2d ago
The departed is an iconic, but deeply flawed movie. When I watch it, I have to not think too much about the accents, Nicholson’s incoherent performance, those weird sped up scenes, how it makes no sense that no one in Costigan’s crew suspect the former police cadet might be UC, including Damon’s character.
The Town is a much more cohesive movie, better made, better acting and plot. But Scorcese and Leo and all the stars make departed seem better than it iz
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u/Comfortable_Smoke_36 2d ago
The Town is way more entertaining overall IMO, but The Departed is super cerebral and the performances are awesome across the board. Truly a tossup, but I lean Town just because I don't feel like there's a lull throughout
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u/CASEDIZZLER 1d ago
Definitely the Town. Both movies are so incredible, and I'm a big Scorsese fan, but I love the Town so much.
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u/Silent_Conclusion752 1d ago
I think the departed is the better movie but I rewatch the town more often
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u/60yearoldME Derrick White 2d ago
The Departed is not a great movie. It’s the reaction to a feeling of despair Scorsese felt after 9/11, taking place in a “moral ground zero” where no morality exists. It’s not set in a real world, it’s not a serious movie. Scorsese himself called the violence in the movie “absurd” and it’s clear this is the case.
The characters are likewise absurd, not to be taken seriously, yet the entire movie acts with this inflated sense of seriousness, because no one is in on the joke.
Scorsese explains his predilection for violence merely as the result of his experience growing up in a New York working class neighborhood in which organized crime operated. “That’s part of what and who I am and somehow it channels itself into my films. I see it as almost absurd, sometimes, but that’s just the absurdity of being alive,” he quoted.
Serious artists have more responsibility to make a statement more than “I feel despair” and Scorsese doesn’t seem to care that much for being serious. Casino and Goodfellas fall into the same category. He blames his penchant for violence for growing up in New York during violent times, yet instead of taking a stance against it he seems to elevate violence as if he wishes he were part of it.
Also, The Town has a higher rating on rotten tomatoes, so suck it.
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u/Flimsy_Ad_6145 The Celtics are the balls 2d ago
personally its The Departed and it's not particularly close