The Departed

Went with DH to see The Departed, and mostly thoroughly enjoyed it.

(spoiler warning!)





Everybody dies! Nearly always with a bullet through the brain, too. Very grim.

No, wait. Not everyone dies...there are two guys left. One who knows everything, and one who thought he knew everything and didn't know anything at all. The two guys are played by Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg, but I'm not going to say which is which.

What didn't I like? Everybody dies, mostly; I'm enough of a romantic that I wanted the good guy to bring down the bad guys and get the girl. Of course the movie is fine the way it is, it's just that I'm a softy that way.

Also, the final shot was totally cheesy.

Other than that, brilliant, and for me nostalgic, since I grew up in similar neighborhoods, although they weren't that bad when I lived there, more than 30 years ago. Between all the swearing and the thick Boston accents in this movie, I'm going to need to pay close attention to how I talk the next few days.

DiCaprio, Damon, Sheen, Baldwin -- all fabulous, as was Vera Farmiga. Jack Nicholson chewed up a lot of scenery, some of it in a good way, but mostly, as they say, OTT. That's Jack for ya. Why just act when you can, you know, over-act? DiCaprio, on the other hand, was note-perfect, and I admit to admiring his more recent choice of roles along with his performances.



The movie is a vivid reminder of just how God-awful Boston's City Hall Plaza is, how grungy the trains are, and how casual racism persists in many neighborhoods. Of course it's all amped up for the film, but I still had occasional flashes of "I know guys like that."

It's up for several Academy Awards. It should net Scorsese his coveted Best Director (he's due) and William Monahan the Best Adapted Screenplay. I'll just have to wait and see (or perhaps follow someone else's live blogging of the event), because there's no way I could stand to watch Ellen Degeneres for 3+ hours hosting the show.