Great, but still, no Departed

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2006)

Although the movie was rather lengthy, it nevertheless delivered a superb message and stellar acting by Damon, Jolie, DeNiro, and Crudup. The movie is set in a time when the country was in high suspicion of Russian military competitiveness, and succeeds in setting the atmosphere of dubiousness and mistrust. Damon plays a man with one facial expression (seriously, his face doesn't change throughout the course of the film) who quickly becomes one of the main facets of the newly constructed CIA. Jolie is also terrific, one of the first good performances I've seen her in in a long time. Billy Crudup has the cutest English accent and Deniro is Deniro, an acting God if there ever was one. The film is worth the time spent because it educates the viewer on the time period and the emotions exhibited by those affected by espionage. Definitely, worthy of best picture and best director nod for DeNiro. The man can do no wrong.