The Departed (2006):
What’s It About?: Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) is the local mob boss in Boston, whom the cops have been having trouble putting away. Billy Costagan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a cop who is deep undercover, risking his life to bring Costello down. And Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is Costello’s rat, who worked his way into a position of authority in the police department. Amongst all the double-crossing, people die, Mark Wahlberg gets sassy, and all bets are off.
How Good Is It?: It’s bloody good, literally. It’s exciting, dangerous, witty, briliiant, stylish and smart. Martin Scorsese has been making quality films for years, and The Departed is no departure. But make no mistake, this is not the kind of film that could have won Best Picture even a decade ago. The older generation will likely find it too violent and too vulgar. But cinematically, it’s a clean, smart work of art.
Was it Best Picture?: Yes. Yeah, Little Miss Sunshine was the audience favorite, and deservedly so. But Scorsese has been aiming for Best Picture for, well, several decades, and his win is way past due. Some will say it is not be as good as Goodfellas,which lost to Dances With Wolves. Others may say its not as good as The Aviator, which lost to Million Dollar Baby. But it’s definitely good enough to beat Little Miss Sunshine, if only to usher in a long overdue change in the expected Best Picture quality. The times are changing again.
Go figure... Scorsese finally pulled it off, and it was a remake of a Japanese film! Ha! Still... freakin' wicked good movie.
Posted by: Adam Fiedler | Oct 18, 2008 at 23:32