I don't like crime movies, as a rule, but I'm always surprised to find I rather like Scorsese's. He's just a good director who knows how to tell a good story, and he focuses on the characters and their dilemmas and morality rather than just showing us a grim series of plot events. The characters are certainly what drew me into this movie, and although I wasn't nearly as blown away by it as a lot of other people were (it's currently rated #22 on Flickchart's global rankings - not even close on mine) I did enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would. Solid. 3.5 stars.
Best Part: DiCaprio and Damon do a great job with their characters and their double identities.
Worst Part: I didn't find the ending particularly satisfying. Not sure what I was hoping for, but that wasn't really it.
Flickchart: #551, below Mars Attacks! and above Manhattan Murder Mystery.
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My wife and I met some friends to see it during its theatrical release. On our way home that night, we hit a deer and totaled the car. I've always been amused to think that if we had been killed, they would have found our ticket stubs for The Departed in my pocket.
For my money, it's Mark Wahlberg who puts this one over the top into greatness. He steals every scene in which he appears. Alec Baldwin is fun to watch in it, too. I've always gotten a kick out of his enthusiasm for the PATRIOT Act.
I wish Vera Farmiga had been given more to do, though. She exists largely to expedite the narrative and give the male characters a way to interact with one another indirectly.
At this moment, it's on my Flickchart:
#67 American Psycho
#68 The Departed
#69 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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