Scorsese has lost it

Rating: 7/10 (29 January 2007)

This movie, and Gangs of New York have shown me that the master is on the wane.
Both movies are watchable and hold your interest, yet both lack that essential spark to make a great movie.
Partially this could be attributed to the actors, who are good, but will never be as good as Robert De Niro, but I would tend to blame the director, because the actors put on some good stuff sometimes. There are many scenes which should have been reshot, with more understatement from the actors.
Leonardo Di Caprio is surprisingly engaging, he was almost excellent, if he hadnt overplayed his "Do they know?" intense nervous glare. With a mug like that, Nicholson would surely have got rid of him long ago.
Secondly Matt Damons character is not explored, we have no idea about his motivations. He didn't have enough screen time, and his character suffered from that. we didn't see him develop any conflicts. And his character was stupid to the extreme, jumping on the phone to his "Dad" after every meeting. Not to mention leaving that envelope around (a crude directorial ploy. Couldn't he have thought up a more subtle way for him to find out?) I think Scorsese has just given the film to Di Caprio and Nicholson, because they put on the best performances. Thats bad directing, or actually lazy directing. Thats whats missing in both these movies. They're not perfect. You look at goodfellas- not one scene, nor any aspect of that movie could have been improved. It was a perfect movie. Same goes for Raging Bull, Taxi Driver.
This one is good but not great.
The final straw for me was the rat on the balcony. What a terribly crude way to end the movie. It was a cheap, dumb, and insulting end. And whats with all the stupid plot twists? Personally, I prefer an ending where the characters have to live with something, or simply leave things unresolved.
Everyone getting shot in the head just makes one feel deflated.