'The Departed' has local launch
Without Mick Jagger or even Martin Scorsese in attendance, last night's local premiere of "The Departed" lacked the sizzle of the film's first night in New York, but then this is Boston. You didn't really expect to see Sir Mick cooling his high heels outside the AMC Boston Common, did you? Stars Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg were all MIA, but screenwriter William Monahan made the scene and thanked the local yokels who helped burnish Scorsese's Boston-based mobster movie. ``They invited you all to a premiere and all you get is a screenwriter." needled Monahan, who knows something about Southie's mean streets, having grown up here. ``Making this movie was a terrific experience, especially and specifically working with the Boston crew." A remake of the Hong Kong classic ``Infernal Affairs," ``The Departed" is the story of good cop Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), bad cop Colin Sullivan (Damon), and a grotesque mob boss gleefully played by Nicholson. (Mercifully, Scorsese cut a much-publicized scene in which Jack employs a sex toy.) Shot in Boston and the Big Apple in the summer of '05, the film's generating Oscar buzz, but since Scorsese has walked away empty handed seven times, we're not holding our breath. Last night's screening was mostly for the local cast and crew, including unknown actors such as Tom Kemp, Dennis Lynch, Michael Byron, and Everett native Peter Crafts, who plays one of the rogues in Costello's bar. (You can glimpse him in the trailer.) Crafts told us he's ``just following [his] 15 minutes of fame," and, of course, enjoying the ride. Meanwhile, Kemp, whose credits include ``Mystic River," ``Gone, Baby, Gone," and ``Passionada," joked that it ``wouldn't be a Boston movie without me, a Wahlberg, and Jimmy Flynn from the teamsters." Others making their way into the theater included former state trooper Thomas Duffy, who plays a governor giving a commencement address, Dropkick Murphys Ken Casey and Josh Wallace, and actors Billy Lee and Bo Cleary, who had a bit part in Dave McLaughlin's fine film ``Southie." Jay Giannone was also there. Initially hired as a consultant -- he introduced DiCaprio to Southie by taking him around the D Street and Old Colony projects -- Giannone ended up with a role in the film. ``It's definitely the biggest thing that could happen to me," said Giannone. Actress Mary Klug, who plays Leonardo's aunt in the film, said it was a thrill to share the screen with a Hollywood heartthrob. ``He was a very, very nice man," said Klug. And actress Peg Saurman Holzemer, who plays the mother of a mobster who's unceremoniously snuffed, called Damon's character one scary dude. ``I wouldn't want to have anything to do with him," said Peg. But in real life? ``Oh, fuhgetaboutit," she said with a smile.
Trinity One Marketing made a big splash with its swanky, well-attended soiree at the Castle the other night. But we hope honcho Lou Imbriano didn't break the bank to bring DJ AM to the Hub. Word is Nicole Richie's boy toy blew out of town after just a few tunes, leaving someone else to spin an awful selection of '80s hits.
``The Bourne Ultimatum" -- the third installment in the successful movie franchise based on Robert Ludlum's books -- is beginning to shoot in northern Morocco, but producers still don't have a bad guy to star opposite our amnesiac hero, Matt Damon. Or do they? Gael Garcia Bernal, who was great in ``The Motorcycle Diaries," has been offered the role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. . . . Arlington's own Dane Cook is set to close the New York Comedy Festival Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden. Cook's only the third act to play the arena, joining lesser light Andrew Dice Clay and the Kings of Comedy, featuring Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer . 