Just saw The Departed on DVD... Best Picture,not quite,Mark Wallberg best supporting actor, I think the critics were in shock that the guy could actually project his lines and not mumble in a whisper like he usually does!
Goodfellas is still his best film IMO.
One of the problems I had was that there's a central weakness within the film with the Madolyn storyline.
First of all the actress, Vera Farmiga, gives a god- awful performance. Every time we cut to a scene with her the film comes to a screeching halt. Besides the bad acting ,Scorcese(& the writer) seem hard pressed to really dig into these scenes and make them seem as interesting as they need to be,Imean she does play a pivotal part in the triangle,which in and of itself is a little too coincidental and at one point unplausable.
NIT-PICKING:
The other thing I found to be unintentionally funny was when Captain Queenan falls in front of Costigan and we see blood spray from the body...it was sucha cheesy effect, it looked like Leo was searching for some meaningful reaction to such a ridiculous scene. It would have better to have him turn the corner and trip over the body...I could just feel the prop man with a bottle of "blood" waiting offscreen to spray Leo at the right time.
The film nevers approaches the complexity of character development and the immersion into the criminal world that Goodfellas does.
What it does do well is get you involved in an undercover op,where you fear for Costigan's safety and really do fear Costello.
Nicholson,Leo,and even Damon were exceptional.
IMO .Babel is still the better film...
