Oscar Watch: The Depahted

I watched Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" in a movie theater when it was released back in October. At the time, I knew that there was a connection to a Hong Kong movie whose American title was (groan) "Infernal Affairs." I had actually seen this movie on DVD, though I didn't remember much of it.

I started to remember the details of "Infernal Affairs" as I was watching "The Departed," and unfortunately, the movies were extremely similar. Thus, I wasn't too surprised by any of the movie's many plot twists, nor was I affected by some of the shocking moments at the end of the movie (some of which were shot with the exact same camera angles as in "Infernal Affairs.")

That being said, "The Departed" is a superior movie to the somewhat over-the-top "Infernal Affairs." Though the stories are virtually identical, The Departed has more grit, more style, and better acting across the board. Some thoughts on this one:

1) I wasn't prepared to believe that Leonardo DiCaprio was a tough Irish kid from South Boston, and at the end of the movie, I still wasn't. Don't get me wrong, he was really good here....but not good enough for me to shake his pretty boy image out of my head.

2) Matt Damon is a pretty boy too, but somehow he's more believable...maybe it's because his Bostonian accent was more natural than DiCaprio's. Anyway, he's pretty good here, but the talk I've heard about him and DiCaprio being this generation's Pacino and DeNiro....a little premature.

3) Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg: Best Supporting Actor Nominee? The guy is talented, but that nomination is solely due to the fact that his crowd-pleaser of a character had the great profanity-filled one-liners and was the welcome comic relief in this otherwise dark and violent movie.

4) This movie was quite bloody. I'm not sure if the copious amounts of blood were intended to be over-the-top, but I caught myself thinking "this is ridiculous" at various points. I don't mind blood in movies at all, but "The Departed" toed the line between grittiness and silliness.

5) I forgot how Scorsese uses lots of loud 70's music in his movies. I really like that about him. This movie is far from genius, but it's a well-made, well-acted piece of entertainment. Why it's nominated for Best Picture...I feel like the combination of Scorsese's reputation plus all the big name stars is what earned the nomination, not the actual film itself.

6) I still can't decide whether I like the last scene or not.

My verdict is that this is a good movie, and it's definitely fun to watch, but to be immortalized as the Best Picture of the year? If it wins, it will be because of the general weakness in this year's other movies.