Scorsese's (expletive) best? I don't (expletive) know

The Departed

* * * 1/2

Martin Scorsese won the Oscar for best director this past year, and I'm glad he did, because, hell, the man makes amazing films. I just wonder looking back on the movies he hasn't won for, whether or not The Departed was the best one. Because I know for a fact that Goodfellas was way better than The Departed. As was Raging Bull. And Taxi Driver. And I even liked Gangs of New York more than this one. Now, this isn't to say that I didn't like The Departed. Because I did.

The plot centers around two main characters, and sub-plots draw in at least four or five other people who come to various demises throughout this epic two-hour and fourty-five minute cop movie. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a young officer out of the academy who is pulled in to be an undercover informant in Nicholson's gang of Boston terrors. Matt Damon plays a cop quickly on the rise through the Boston PD. Damon has ties to Nicholson from when he was a kid. This of course leads to moles and rats and lots, and lots, and LOTS of swearing, not only by DiCaprio and Nicholson, but also by Mark Wahlberg, who I think swears more in this movie than there were total swear words in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

It ends up that this is a good little movie. All of the little plots twists and turns are awesome to see played out. And Scorsese is the master of using amazing music during scenes where you see the characters get their just rewards. Stylistically, it looks nice, like all Scorsese movies. The acting is first notch. The screenplay was great. I just don't know if it was Oscar worthy.

Overall, The Departed is a great movie. Don't watch it unless you're willing to sit through the whole thing in one sitting. You'll never keep the plot straight in your head. Beware of copious amounts of swearing. Beware of copious amounts of blood and brutality. Check it out, anyway. Especially if you're a Scorsese fan.