“The Departed” –
Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
Well, I have to confess I was uncertain about viewing this, yet another Mafioso picture, but it was actually well done. I was also surprised that I hated Matt Damon’s character so much and felt for DiCaprio’s–usually it’s the other way around. It was funny to see Nicholson as he has clearly had a lot of work done on his face that took off about 20 years since his last film. He is brilliant as always, and slippery and certainly slimy as ever too, but that is his charm. It was a tad confusing as I was never entirely sure who the good guys vs. the bad guys were, but guess that is the reality of it all. The only part that really offended was Wahlberg’s foul mouthed, in-your-face, tough guy cop character. I just couldn’t get past the language, it lost all significance after the first dozen four-letter words. I know they actually talk that way, but it sounds so stupid and crass and I tune it out. And I’ve never seen Wahlberg look so incredibly unattractive, wow, he wins the prize! Scorcese does it again; he is film magic. As a designer I found it astounding that no one figured out Damon’s deal considering his posh digs with view of the gold capital dome.
