After a week of missing the movies I got back in the groove over the weekend and saw Martin Scorsese’s new film The Departed. Scorses is one of my favorite directors, I think he is one of the most talented directors of all time and I was very excited to see this. In short it didn’t disappoint, it is so good that it may finally get Scorsese the Best Director Oscar that has so far eluded him (man was he robbed on Goodfellas, fuck Kevin Costner and Dances with Wolves).

I would also like to go on record saying that I think Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most talented younger actors we have, there I said it. I have felt this way for a very long time, pretty much since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and my opinion was cemented in Basketball Diaries (a film which he co-starred with Mark Wahlberg, I will get to him in a minute). DiCaprio gets a lot of flack and he has his fair share of detractors but I feel it all stems from Titanic which many people detest. He has so much hate for him due to that movie it is ridiculous. Anyway, I think he is very talented and he was excellent in The Departed.

I also happen to be a fan of Mark Wahlberg, I think he is a pretty damn good actor and I now think of him as an actor who used to be a rapper and not as a rapper trying to be an actor. His performance in Basketball Diaries really was quite a surprise to me, he was excellent in that film. His performance in Boogie Nights is what really earned my respect. He is really good in The Departed, he plays a guy who seems to be a real asshole but I think his personality is justified in the context of the movie and his job.

Matt Damon is a decent actor, I have nothing really against him and I love him in Dogma (he gets to deliver one of my favorite lines in Dogma “Hey, you know, fuck you, man. Any moron with a pack of matches can set a fire. Raining down sulphur is like an endurance trial man. Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity one can engage in, outside of soccer.”). He is excellent in this movie getting probably the meatiest role in the film.

Jack, good ole Jack. Thankfully this is a departure from the Jack that seems to turn up in most of his movies in the last ten years, you know the ham it up to the camera and borderline overact Jack. This is a Jack I don’t think we have ever seen, he is a scumbag in this movie and he is turns in an incredible performance.

I highly recommend this movie, it’s hard to go wrong with this cast and hell, it’s Scorsese, what more do you need? Go see it.