Not the Best Movie Ever

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2006)

First, I like to comment on the brilliant performance by Leonardo DiCarpio and Jack Nicholson. I'm not a film critic, but DiCarpio and Nicholson had the best lines and the best scenes in the whole movie. The scene in the restaurant where Leonardo pleads his case that he is not the "rat", while Jack Nicholson sniffs his wine glass, eats a bug, and pulls a gun out on DiCarpio was entertaining, gripping, and climatic. Mark Wahlberg also put in a great performance with the limited facetime he received in the movie.
The movie had twisting plots that at times confused me, especially at the beginning where I actually didn't know if DiCarpio was undercover or not. The scenes that he busted up the two guys in the store and him selling cocaine with his cousin probably was the reason why I was confused for so long. I know that some movies are not suppose to be spoonfeed to the audience and sometimes it takes mentally looking back at scenes to figure details out. This I don't mind at all, it's rather interesting.
Overall it was a good movie, I don't give it the credit that many give it because the past week I was hearing it was Scorsese's best film, but it was lacking what films like Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull had. What I'm saying is that the movies I mention above had the street elements involved which in turn described how the characters grew up and acted like they were. This movie didn't have that, it had the accents, but I feel it lacked the quality neighborhood addage that many of Scorsese's films have.
I do recommend this movie, it has some of the best current actors at or near their peaks. You may want to keep the children and wife away though.