Oh my God, what a huge horrendous pile of poo!

Rating: 1/10 (18 March 2010)

I always fear that preconceptions and/or high expectations can cause a film to do worse than it deserves. For instance, walk in to a movie that you know nothing about, and more often than not it will surprise you. On the other hand, walk into a film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based on a novel written by Dennis Lehane (who wrote "Gone Baby Gone" and "Mystic River") and a supporting cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Max Von Sydow, Sir Ben Kingsley and Emily Mortimer, you are almost certain to be disappointed. However, this may have been true with other films but when it comes to a Scorsese/DiCaprio collaboration (for example Gangs of New York, The Departed and The Aviator)I expect a little bit more, and I expect the film to deliver something. This film sadly does not deliver, it does not excite and it does not deserve to be in IMDb's top 250 (which at the time of writing it does). I can only conclude that the masses have decided not to bet against a previously assumed sure thing, and instead vote along with everyone else rather than question the latest Scorsese/DiCaprio collaboration. The film opens on a boat, and within minutes we see DiCaprio and Ruffalo standing on the deck talking. It was from this point onwards that I was disappointed and began to expect very little from the rest of the film. Blue screen? Green screen? Whatever they use, they used it here and it looked horrible. And if nothing else, I have always found that of the Scorsese films I didn't necessarily enjoy in the past I would at least walk out at the end saying how beautiful and authentic everything looked. Well not here. Seriously disappointing. Don't waste ya time!