Fair, but nothing spectacular

Rating: 6/10 (5 November 2006)

The Departed left me cold, much as many in the movie end up. It was fair, but fell far short of the hype that has been heaped on this flick. Plodding in the middle, with a lot of unnecessary exposition, the movie is too long - perhaps a sign of Scorcese's age. It is nowhere near the level of Casino or Goodfellas, but the plot is interesting. The last 25 mins make the movie exciting. Unfortunately, it closes on a note that makes me question what the actual point was. Acting was generally good. Nicholson, DiCaprio and Damon turn in decent performances (especially DiCaprio, who I doubted could pull off a tough-guy role). Wahlberg's character is extremely irritating and unrealistic. There is no way that a character like his would be present in such a high-ranking position at the state police level. Sorry - people just don't talk like that. I didn't find the movie any more violent than any of the director's previous work (perhaps even less so). However, a major problem I have is that the movie goes out of its way to be VULGAR. I found it quite tasteless and it detracted from my enjoyment of the film. There was a lot of nasty sexual talk in reference to women, etc that not only made it difficult to enjoy with my girlfriend, but felt unnatural. There is also plenty of racial humor to throw around which could possibly be overlooked for the sake of realism, but in light of all the potty mouths also comes off as a bit much. No better than your average misogynistic rap video, I hate to say it, but I don't think this should've been released as an R. It is worse than that. With its decent acting, witty lines and intensity nearly derailed by it's vulgarity, watch and weep for the end of taste in Western cinema.