Flirts with 'classic' status, but comes up short

Rating: 7/10 (10 October 2006)

Quick appraisal: Beginning is slow, middle is meaty and contains well-crafted scenes and performances, ending seems forced and intellectually lazy. Just seemed like Marty didn't no how to end this thing. Still worth seeing. I feel like Leo inhabits his role, Jack plays himself with deviant character wrinkles, Damon does a good job of being one of those conflicted, ethical dilemmas that have always been a hallmark of Marty's best work and Alec Baldwin continues to impress me. He is at his best when he is used as comic relief. Marky Mark is not great, but he, like Damon, gets points for being from Boston. Wahlberg is a damn good actor, even surprisingly so at times, but this character is largely one-dimensional. I know that's part of the plan, but I felt that it was an avoidable pitfall.