The Arrived

Damn. The Departed is one very good movie. Start to near-finish, I was on the edge of my seat watching one of the best ensemble acting jobs of the year spinning a story of cops and the mob, a story of conflicting loyalties, and a story of Boston's underbelly. I swear, with the exception of Mark Wahlberg, who is just a little too over the top, this is top-notch acting all around. Even DiCaprio, who I don't generally like, is excellent. It's like the guy grew up ten years between The Aviator and this movie, and his face shows it. (Leo actually looks like he could be the brother of Eric Dane, who plays "Dr. McSteamy" on Grey's Anatomy.)

The film has laughs and suspense; particularly gripping is the scene where (and you know it has to happen so this is no spoiler) Damon and DiCaprio's characters find out about each other — and do so without any dialogue. One other thing about the movie that stood out that I also really liked was the use of music. The Departed has a great soundtrack and score, and for, like, 85% of the film there is music playing. Songs will stop suddenly and then pick up again. It's all pretty cool.

Of course, I said "near-finish" at the start of this review because I think the last five minutes gets a smidge laughable, and the last scene leaves a pretty big question unanswered, but maybe that's the point: in the world of this film, we never really know who's on whose side, and what to believe. And in The Departed, that makes for some great, gritty drama. Run to see this one. It gets an A from me.