Somebody fell asleep at the helm

Rating: 6/10 (21 October 2006)

Let me first clarify: This movie was FANTASTIC...until the last 10 minutes or so. I scanned comments and failed to see anything negative about this movie except for the comparisons to another I never heard of, so reader beware...if you watched this movie and missed what I'm about to point out, well...read on for yourself.
Everything was going great until the scene in which Sullivan (Damon) goes to delete Costigan's (DiCaprio) file. So OK...I may be more tech-knowledgeable than some...allow me to elaborate: It is not possible to just 'delete' a file from a database computer. (I am oversimplifying only for the sake of keeping this short) We can assume the movie is set in the present, given the technology displayed. In my opinion, this was a horrible mistake, besides even the fact that Sullivan is sloppily using a computer with his back to a glass wall. But is is only the beginning. When Sullivan goes to 'delete' the file, he is committing himself to getting rid of Costigan. Sullivan's character has, to date, been portrayed as intelligent, yet he fails to react and seek to eliminate Costigan. Even worse, he fails to see the threat that Dignam poses once Costigan's file is deleted. The film 'could' have taken a great turn here, but the writers and Scorcese fail to deliver. Instead, they now cast Sullivan as an idiot who then goes to a meeting with Costigan ALONE and unprepared. Next, he eliminates Costello's other inside man (ostensibly with the intent of protecting himself from exposure) and fails to recognize (again) the threat that Dignam poses. Not to be outdone, Scorcese goes on to allow Costigan to be 'outed' as a Trooper for his decorated burial, but fails to account for HOW anybody knew he was anything but a has-been (remember, his file was 'deleted'). There were other anomalies, such as with the envelope, the baby and the CD. I would object to this movie getting any awards...it was finished very sloppily with poor attention to important detail. Unless, of course, a movie could be nominated for only 90% of it... But didn't somebody once say 'the ending is everything'?