Best Picture?

I didn't watch the Oscars tonight, but I had stuck all the nominees for best picture in my Netflix cue after the nominations were announced. Tonight, we watched The Departed.

I'd heard a lot of hype about this movie over the last month or so. Many film critics (including Michael Medved) picked The Departed as Best Film and, when I peeked at the results after watching the movie, I found that it had won.

I'm not a movie critic, but I have played one in the past (I reviewed some movies when I worked at the local newspaper back in college and after). My feelings about The Departed? It was ok.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a cop who goes undercover in the Irish mafia in an attempt to bring down a kingpin (played by Jack Nicholson). Meanwhile, the kingpin has a mole in the Massachusetts State Police (Matt Damon) who is trying to find the rat in Nicholson's mob.

The cat-and-mouse games played while each mole tries to find the other is fascinating to watch. The all-star cast really makes the most of the material and the writing is taut (I didn't find myself saying "This would be a good place to end this" the way I do in a lot of movies).

Like all mafia movies, The Departed is quite violent. Not Good Fellas violent, but there is plenty of brain-splattering for the mafia lovers in any family.

The problem with The Departed is that the ending is relatively predictable (we pegged it after the first hour). It's a straight forward mob movie with little else in the plot to recommend it. I didn't find any of the secondary characters to be that interesting, and while Leonardo DiCaprio is a more empathetic character, there was nothing compelling in the performance.

I'm not sure why The Departed won the Best Picture award. Perhaps the other four nominees are weaker, or maybe the star quality of The Departed drew votes. My vote will be out until I have a chance to see the other four films.