DiCaprio May Have Been Better in "The Departed" But It Was Close

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2006)

How to tell a story: Take three characters who each want something different that is in conflict with what the others want but connected and go from there.
I suppose Danny Archer (DiCaprio) is the protagonist but my wife and I had a discussion about it after the movie because there's a good case to be made that Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) was as well. She made the point that Danny drives the story, that it's his want--the diamond and escape from Africa--that makes the story go forward. But it may well be that the real performance in this movie was Hounsou who takes us from rage to tenderness in seconds in the climactic scenes. Despite some pretty negative discussion about her in the discussions here, I think Connelly fitted her role and did it well.
If the movie is flawed it is around the last minute implications of romance between Danny and Maddy Bowen (Connelly) which could, with some suspension of disbelief, be read as human caring between two people who have shared a difficult journey. The one other flaw might have been difficult to handle differently. The diamond business back story is necessary for context but the closing scenes after we see the last of Archer that wrap up the back story seemed unnecessary. They could easily have had the plane taking off be the last scene and the story might have been stronger. Sometimes it doesn't add to a movie to try to tie up everything in a neat little bow.
In summary--hard to watch some parts of this film, but a compelling story well acted.