The Departed

A friend of mine overseas had seen The Departed and recommended it to me - I figured it won best picture, so why not?  Before we left for the theater I checked out the keywords on IMDb, and I just had to laugh at this collection:

• Shot To Death
• Shot In The Face
• Shot In The Chest
• Shot In The Head
• Shot In The Forehead
• Shot In The Knee

I thought the movie itself was okay.  I think the main reason it won Best Picture is because of its complexity.  So-and-so is a mole for the good guys, while so-and-so is a mole for the bad guys, and neither of them knows who is who, and we all go around in circles.  I also think Leonardo DiCaprio turned in a pretty good performance, so it surprises me that he didn't get nominated.  In fact I was surprised Mark Wahlberg did get nominated...his character was very one-dimensional and his acting struck me as wooden.

I'm trying to think "what kind of person would this movie appeal to?"  I am going to go with fans of Mafia films, because it is heavy on that type of intrigue, although I'm not sure Jack Nicholson's gang can really be counted as Mafia.