Fun With Scorcese

Quote of the day:
“Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.”
--W. Somerset Maugham

"The Departed" is a fun movie. Jack Nicholson clearly enjoys himself playing the head of a crime organization. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are excellent as the cops he sets up against each other. There are fine performances from Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and especially Mark Wahlberg. A cast studded with stars. Or starred with studs.

The movie is a bit unusual for director Martin Scorcese. It is not as intensely visual as, for example, Casino (I think his best film) or Raging Bull. His focus seems to be on using the camera to tell the story rather than express the theme.

And it’s a very involving and unpredictable story with bad good guys and good bad guys. The film is blessedly free of the usual blasts of sound effects or incessant quick-cutting which seem to be the norm for action movies now.

There is gun violence in the film, but, thankfully, no close-up brutality (except for one moment seen in the TV trailer).

It’s a good time at the movies, for adults.