#68 The Departed - Trust No One

2006. dir. Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Mark Walberg.

Seen it before? Several times.

I could write my review about this movie now but I will do it after I have seen it with fresh eyes...in other words you're going to have to wait til the weather gets crappy or for Daniel to take a nap...oh look, the weather is going to be crappy on Saturday! WOOHOO!

Yes, I know, this was a long time coming! I thought Goodfellas needed to be written before this because I needed more time to process the reviewing of the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are State Police guys in Massachusetts. They both get assigned the Costello (Jack Nicholson) case - one as an insider who is supposed to get close to Costello and find out who the mole is and bring down his operation; one who is supposed to bring down Costello by using his skills as a cop but who actually works for Costello as a mole. Mark Wahlberg's bad hair stars as Dignam a no-nonsense Boston cop who eats new recruits for breakfast. His boss is Martin Sheen who I find to be the only good guy you want to root for. Alec Baldwin is actually pretty great in the movie too.

Vera Farmiga is like the newer model of Julia Ormond. She has sex with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in this movie and was George Clooney's love interest in Up in the Air...in other words, I'm totally jealous. But like in the latter movie I didn't like her in this movie. She's not your standard gorgeous girl...I'd hate if she was a Bond girl...I don't even know if I like her as an actress. Aha! I figured it out...to me she is like Claire Forlani...I'm not a huge fan of her either.

I don't think Jack Nicholson was as bad as Sam makes him out to be. I did before I re-watched the movie but after seeing it again on Thursday I am going to have to disagree. I found him actually quite hilarious. From the "necessary" roughness to the whole being called "dad" so that the deception can continue. He was great in this movie!

Have I mentioned that I find it hard to see DiCaprio playing these kinds of roles? His face is still so young...it's weird for me. And I hate jerky Matt Damon. I really and truly do.

See it again? Yes
Own it? Yup

#68 The Departed: You were like different people!

2006. dir. Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Mark Walberg.

Seen it before? Several times.

Business travel sucks... we're falling behind with this shit....

Fortunately I have a video iPod so I can watch this delightful little romp, about spying and betrayal and Boston's organized crime scene. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Billy Costigan, who is sent by the Boston Massachusetts state police to infiltrate the Costello organization. Jack Nicholson plays Frank Costello, who send his protege Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) to interfere with the police. And thus ensues a high-stakes chess match, as Sullivan and Costigan race to track each other down.

It's a Scorsese movie so there's lots of fun violence and swearing. The supporting cast is great; I loved Ray Winstone as Mr. French and Mark Walberg as the profane Sgt. Dignam. Of course Alec Baldwin is great too. Didn't really care for Vera Farmiga, but she does strip down to her underwear at one point so all is forgiven. Also I thought Jack Nicholson was way too Jack Nicholson-y. When exactly did he become a parody of himself?

Position on the list: 50
The ending: I think Ralph Wiggum said it best: "The rat is a symbol for obviousness!"