"Departed" left me cold

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2007)

Hack movie critics treated to expensive press junkets gushingly referred to "The Departed" as a "tour de force!!" This film is certainly that: An ensemble cast of A-listers chew up the scenery in put-on South Boston accents amid a twisty plot and plenty of Martin Scorsese-brand stylized violence.
It works..for awhile. But as the film wears on and the body count piles up, the twisty plot becomes formulaic and predictable and the Southie accents ("fahk you ya queeah!" is a common turn of phrase for example) start to grate on the viewer's (well, this viewer's) nerves. After 2 hrs and 30 minutes of bloodshed and screamed curse words, by the end I was left cold and unmoved by the spectacle, and left wondering why this thing was nominated for an Oscar.