Rating: 3.5 of 5  

I finally saw The Departed last night because there was absolutely nothing on tv, so what else was I going to do with my evening? man! Gritty crime dramas are usually not my thing, but I’ve wanted to see this because I was really curious about the movie that Leonardo DiCaprio was finally able to man up in. And then everyone said how brilliant it was, which normally doesn’t sway me, but can be a confirmation that it’s a movie worth seeing. In other words, if I was going to watch a gritty crime drama with Jack Nicholson (and I’m normally not a fan of his movies) this was the one to see.

And it was!

The plot, is actually fairly simple and therefore sort of not the point.

The characters that are tangled up in this plot, who they are and what it does to them is very much the point. Which, I think is why all the actors are getting such acclaim for it. They deserve it. Especially Leonardo DiCaprio; he deserves to win the Oscar this year; more than for Gilbert Grape; more than Titanic which he should have been nominated for if for no other reason than everyone else frickin’ was. He is brilliant in this film; beyond brilliant. No one else could have done this role.

I’ve known that he was a brilliant actor since I was in high school (before Titanic). At the time everyone teased me and said it was just because I thought he was cute. Yes, I did think he was cute at the time, but I still knew he was a brilliant actor; the two are not mutually exclusive. And he’s tried to man up for years, most notably in Gangs of New York. And it’s not that he couldn’t do it from a performance standpoint, but there was always a boyishness in his physical appearance that he couldn’t overcome. He very successfully manned up in The Departed and even without having seen it yet it obviously carried through to Blood Diamond.

The characters were so intricate and so interesting I could go on and on and won’t. I wish someone else had seen it with me, just so I’d have someone to talk to about it.

Even though it’s rated R so this should be obvious I feel the need to say that it’s violent and cruder than I prefer. Are there really people who are that graphic and that crude? that often? at work? really?  (My writing score took a big hit because of the language.)

ETA: Yeah, and I just realized that Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t even nominated for his role in The Departed, he’s nominated for Blood Diamond. I’m sure he’s great in Blood Diamond, but I still think he should have been nominated and won for The Departed. Shows what I know, I guess.

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