Rating of
4/4
Great crime film from Oscar winner Martin Scorsese
jmoney1776 - wrote on 11/06/07
The Departed will forever be known as the movie that finally got Scorsese the Oscar. It's a blessing and a curse. Is the Departed Scorsese's best film? No. Was it better than every movie released last year? No. Was it better than what it was up against at the Oscars? Yes. Except for possibly Letters From Iwo Jima all the other nominees will be mostly forgotten. The Departed will not.
The movie itself is probably the most mainstream film Scorsese has done, but that's not a bad thing. The cast is great, the script is great, the editing is great as always, and the direction is Scorsese doing what he does best. Getting great performances. The film is based on Infernal Affairs which I have seen and liked. They are two very different movies especially in the make-up of the Matt Damon character. In the Departed he's played as a villain but in Infernal Affairs he is a more sympathetic character. Both films are good but I prefer this one if for no other reason than that Scorsese directed it. It also features Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance to date.
Should Scorsese have won the Oscar for this? Without a doubt. He deserved it many times over the years and something always beat him. In the end people complain about anything. If Goodfellas had won best picture and best director in 1990 there would be people on here now saying that Dances With Wolves deserved it. He broke the streak and it was with a great film. That's all that matters.
