no goodfellas

Rating: 7/10 (8 October 2006)

I folk can remember the impact of Scorceses (spellink?) Goodfellas and a fine (if violent) film it is. The Departed will probably be hailed as a return to that fine form, but I hope folk are paying carefull attention, because apart from a few notable one liners, it really is too much the remake and not an individual film.
The story is complelling enough, but not enough twist potential is made of the rich characters created in this version - which has always been the directors strength. Jack Nicholson, however, seems a bit reigned in, leaving acting credits to Leonardo for the main cast, but the supporting cast pulls some surprising irons out of the fire. Alec Baldwin as the furious sweaty police captain and Martin Sheen as the proverbial good cop show there is more to casting than who is popular at the time.
Good but not fab.