Next up on our magical mystery tour of oscar movies: The Departed. I'm probably the last person in Boston to see this movie.
Overall, I liked it. It was like watching a very slow train wreck, in that you know exactly how it has to end, but you're mesmerized anyway. I could have done without most of the first hour. A little too much set-up. And I hate to say it, since she was the only actress with any lines of note, but I would have trimmed the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) storyline too. But the last hour was incredibly riveting. All of the performances were strong, including Leo's, who continues to surprise me. If the first movie you see him in is Titanic, he kinda has to spend the rest of his career trying to dig himself out of a hole. But he has done that admirably since (Catch Me if You Can comes to mind). Matt Damon does a good job of being the glue of the movie, allowing everyone else to be flashier (though Jack Nicholson is flashy no matter what he does). I still don't understand why Alec Baldwin's and Mark Wahlberg's characters had so much hair, but their performances were great examples of perfect character acting. And I forgot that Martin Scorsese doesn't just have a verbal ADD style (watching his interviews is fascinating) but also a visual ADD kick. It works, though.
Next up: Letters from Iwo Jima, if I can get out to the theater.
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3 comments:
it was a great cast, you are right about that. and with the psychiatrist, are we supposed to assume at the end that she sent whatever it was leo gave her to mark wahlberg? was that the idea? but yeah, that storyline was a bit pointless, except to give further reinforcement of the theme that people aren't always what they seem.
didn't it make you so sad when martin sheen died? that was totally the hardest part for me. i was like, "nooooooo, mr president!!! don't die!!" thinking of ww martin sheen. both characters being sort of endearing father figure types, with a little "hardcore" hidden underneath.
i am coming up, though sadly i won't be there in time for your birthday. though there's a funny story about that, which you'll probably hear from mike tomorrow. i'll be up the weekend of the 16th. i think i'm going to come up thursday night and stay until sunday. i've got to do some stuff with debate on friday night and saturday morning/afternoon. but i'm sure we'll find some time in there to get together. perhaps thursday night or saturday night, or sunday during the day. sorry i'm not going to be there during your break. i hope you won't be too busy studying!
Glad to hear you are coming to Boston, Beth!
I was wondering about the letter part of the movie too. I guess she could have sent it to mark wahlberg, but really, I think they just left that hanging.
And from the time that Martin Sheen died, that was when the movie really clicked for me. Though it was traumatic.
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