The Departed

As mentioned previously, I am not easily excited by the release of new movies. Yet, for a variety of reasons, I was pretty goddamn excited about "The Departed", a film that proved itself my perfect storm this past weekend.

While I am often accused, understandably but not rightfully so, of being anti-Italian (guineas as I sometimes refer to them), Scorsece's characters are riddled with this prejudice, amongst many others, that help to give the film it's raw sense of Boston's flawed, idiosyncratic reality. In the world of "lace- curtain Irish", the criminal underbelly of South Boston specifically, bravado reigns. As such, a universal fear of outsiders does as well. The duality of this fear, displayed in spades by the State Police and the Irish Mafia alike, is much of what makes the movie so compelling. The good guys are in the same predicament as the bad guys.

This movie is slick. Scorsece doesn't pull any punches in showing us the grim reality of his players. If it happens, we see it. Nothing is left out, overdone, sloppily done, or drags on too long. As I said, it's slick.

I also feel it's necessary to mention that every big name to appear in this movie (and there are tons of them) turns in a performance they can be proud of; top to bottom. From Jack Nicholson (who is from another planet) to Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin to Matt Damon. The ease with which they turn a superb script into a classic movie, reminded me that going to the movies can be oh so sweet. The attention to detail given to the Boston setting, the accents, the xenophobia, the homophobia, the dialogue, the humor....... Go see this movie!